Rep. Ilhan Omar ‘Disgusted’ by Question Pointed Toward Muslim Lawmakers

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) was “disgusted” when an activist raised a question about whether Omar planned to publicly condemn FGM (female genital mutilation). The congresswoman raised the fact that just because she is Muslim, she should not have to comment on issues that other lawmakers are not asked about.

Omar lamented on Tuesday during the Muslim Collective for Equitable Democracy in Washington D.C.,  that the media and their constituents put a burden on the four members of Congress who are of Muslim decent. She feels especially targeted since she has already drafted statements and bills against such heinous practices.

“I am quite disgusted really, to be honest, that as Muslim legislators, we are constantly being asked to waste our time speaking to issues that other people are not being asked to speak to because the assumption exists that we somehow support and are for…. so I want to make sure that the next time someone is in an audience, and is looking at me and Rashida and Abdullah and Sam, that they ask us the proper questions that they will probably ask any member of Congress or any legislator or any politician.”


The audience loudly applauded her direct rebuttal to the misdirected inquiry.

“How often? Should I make a schedule? Does this need to be on repeat every five minutes? Should I be like, so today I forgot to condemn al Qaeda, so here’s the al Qaeda one. Today I forgot to condemn FGM, so here we go. Today I forgot to condemn Hamas,” Omar questioned.

The conference occurred just a week after President Trump’s vile tweet seemingly directed toward Omar and three other Muslim lawmakers telling them to “go back” to the countries they came from.

Of the four non-white U.S. Congresswomen, all are citizens. Three of them were born in the U.S. and the fourth, Omar, has been a naturalized citizen since she was 12. She came to the U.S. with her family as refugees fleeing Somalia.

Hopefully Omar’s rebuttal has awakened those Americans who feel Muslims have to defend themselves when radical extremists act out.

“If you want us to speak as politicians, American politicians, then you treat us as such,” Omar demanded.

Related Story: Trump’s ‘Go Back’ Tweets Against Congresswomen of Color Would Be Considered Workplace Discrimination

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