That’s the cover the New York Post ran on Thursday.
It’s a reference to a comment by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who said last month in a speech before the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) banquet in California that the September 11 massacre was not a terrorist attack, but instead dismissed it as “some people did something.”
The Post’s accompanying editorial was brutal:
How pathetic: A member of Congress can’t acknowledge what happened on one of the most horrific days in US history.
In a March 23 speech, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) complained of “the discomfort of being a second-class citizen” before claiming the Council on American-Islamic Relations “was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something, and [Muslims] were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.”
Some people did something? Wow. What a way to describe the heinous surprise attack on America that claimed 3,000 lives.
The paper went on: “Omar upped the obscure-the-facts ante Wednesday, declaring criticism of her ‘some people did something’ line to be ‘incitement,’ on the grounds that she has received death threats. Huh? She’d rightly be outraged if anyone minimized those threats as merely ‘some words from some people.’ Omar’s cavalier brushing off of the murder of thousands of innocents on 9/11 should shock all Americans, Muslims included.”
As the internet exploded, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decided to jump into the fray.
“I’m not going to quote the NY Post’s horrifying, hateful cover. Here’s 1 fact: @IlhanMN is a cosponsor of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. She‘s done more for 9/11 families than the GOP who won’t even support healthcare for 1st responders – yet are happy to weaponize her faith,” the Democratic socialist wrote on Twitter.
I’m not going to quote the NY Post’s horrifying, hateful cover.
Here’s 1 fact: @IlhanMN is a cosponsor of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. She‘s done more for 9/11 families than the GOP who won’t even support healthcare for 1st responders- yet are happy to weaponize her faith.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 11, 2019
Hateful?
Things took off from there.
Ocasio-Cortez then attacked Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) for a tweet he posted earlier this week when he called Omar the “First Member of Congress to ever describe terrorists who killed thousands of Americans on 9/11 as ‘some people who did something.’ ”
You refuse to cosponsor the 9/11 Victim’s Compensation Fund, yet have the audacity to drum resentment towards Ilhan w/completely out-of-context quotes.
In 2018, right-wing extremists were behind almost ALL US domestic terrorist killings. Why don’t you go do something about that? https://t.co/rkb92IxkKX
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 11, 2019
Then, after a massive outpouring of contempt for AOC’s comments, she retweeted another posting that said “words matter” and acknowledged that “we were attacked by terrorists on 9/11.”
Let’s be clear, words matter: we were attacked by terrorists on 9/11. Thousands were murdered, too many of whom were from my district.
But actions matter too. So let’s do the right thing and #Renew911VCF.
Why aren’t you a cosponsor @DanCrenshawTX? https://t.co/4NoYTK1bbS
— Max Rose (@MaxRose4NY) April 10, 2019
Meanwhile, Omar appeared on Stephen Colbert’s late-night show — but the host, a die-hard hater of President Trump, never asked her about the comment.
She said critics attack people for things “they might have insinuated.”
“It is very much embedded in a lot of our culture these days, where you will have people come after minorities for things that they say, that they might have insinuated,” she said. “No one goes after people like the folks on ‘Fox & Friends’ that actually say those words. It’s not about insinuation, right?” she said. “They actually said that I might not be an American. My loyalties might not be to this country. But I get called out. They don’t.”
Gotta’ wonder what she “insinuated” when she dismissed the 9/11 attacks as “some people did something.”
