Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Maanvi Singh in San Francisco (now) and Sabrina Siddiqui and Joanna Walters (earlier)

Ilhan Omar on Trump: 'I believe he is fascist' – as it happened

Summary

  • CNN has announced the lineup for the next 2020 Democratic debate, which will take place in Detroit, Michigan on 30 July and 31 July.
  • Trump announced that he intends to nominate Eugene Scalia (son of late supreme court justice Antonin Scalia) to be the next labor secretary. Scalia would replace Alexander Acosta, who resigned following criticism for overseeing a lenient plea deal for financier Jeffrey Epstein in 2008.
  • Trump has said he disagrees with the “send her back” chants against representative Ilhan Omar at his rally in North Carolina on Wednesday; the president sought to distance himself from the chants, which were widely condemned as racist, even though he allowed them to proceed during the rally itself.
  • Ilhan Omar received a warm welcome back in her home state Minnesota. She is not backing down, telling reporters she thinks Trump is a “fascist” and dismissing the suggestion by some Republicans that she should scale back her criticism; Omar said the US is supposed to be a country that allows “democratic debate and dissent”.
  • Top Democrats have meanwhile voiced concern over Omar’s safety, calling for enhanced security in the wake of Trump’s attacks; Omar has acknowledged receiving death threats stemming from the president’s tweets and comments targeting her.
  • Donald Trump and aides were directly involved in discussions surrounding an illegal hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the 2016 campaign, according to unsealed FBI documents. House judiciary committee chairman Jerry Nadler has asked Trump aide Hope Hicks explain inconsistencies in her testimonies.
  • Trump said a US naval ship shot down and “destroyed” an Iranian drone near the Strait of Hormuz; the president said the US took defensive measures after the Iranians ignored multiple commands to stand down.

Lineups for next 2020 Democratic debate announced

CNN drew names from a box on live TV to decide the lineup for the next 2020 Democratic debate to be held at the end of the month in Detroit, Michigan.

Here’s the breakdown:

Day 1, July 30

South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg

Former Texas representative Beto O’Rourke

Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar

Author Marianne Williamson

Former Maryland representative John Delaney

Former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper

Ohio representative Tim Ryan

Montana governor Steve Bullock

Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren

Vermont senator Bernie Sanders

Day 2

Former Housing and Urban Development secretary Julián Castro

Businessman Andrew Yang

New Jersey senator Cory Booker

Washington governor Jay Inslee

New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand

Hawaii representative Tulsi Gabbard

Colorado senator Michael Bennet

New York mayor Bill de Blasio

Former vice-president Joe Biden

California senator Kamala Harris


And it’s official — Trump intends to nominate Eugene Scalia for labor secretary.

Updated

House judiciary committee chairman Jerry Nadler is requesting that Trump’s former press secretary Hope Hicks come back and explain why her previous testimony regarding a hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels is inconsistent with new evidence from the FBI.

In the letter, Nadler writes: “As I reminded you at the outset of your interview, anything other than complete candor can have serious consequences.”

Listing out the instances in which Hicks’ testimony contradicts information in court filings that were unsealed today, Nadler concludes, “I would like to give you an opportunity to clarify your testimony on a voluntary basis.”

Updated

It’s looking like Trump will nominate Eugene Scalia, son of the late Supreme court justice Antonin Scalia, for Labor secretary.

Politico first reported that sources familiar with the president’s plans confirmed that Scalia was a top choice to replace Alexander Acosta, who resigned following criticism for overseeing a lenient plea deal for financier Jeffrey Epstein in 2008.

Scalia, who is a partner at the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, represented Wal-mart in a 2006 case challenging a Maryland law that would have required the company to spend more on its employees’ healthcare.

A source close to Scalia confirmed the news to NPR’s Nina Totenberg.

Updated

The Mexican ambassador to Washington said that Mexico is not ready to sign a “safe third country” agreement.

From Reuters:

Mexico has told the United States time and again it is not ready to ink a deal forcing asylum seekers heading to the U.S. to first pursue safe haven in a Mexico, the Mexican ambassador to Washington said on Thursday, ahead of a Monday deadline.

Martha Barcena rejected the so-called “safe third country” agreement days before the clock runs out on a deal struck with U.S. President Donald Trump in June. Under that commitment, Mexico averted punitive tariffs by promising to stem the flow of illegal migrants from Central America by July 22. If it failed, Latin America’s second largest economy would have to accept safe-third-country status.

“We have said once and again that we are not ready to sign” any such agreement, Barcena said at an event in Washington, D.C.

Her comments come days before Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard is slated to meet his U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo in Mexico City this weekend to discuss migration and trade.

Three children, who Border Patrol reportedly held at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport for 12 hours, have finally been released to their mother.

WBEZ reported that activists, advocates and lawyers gathered earlier today at the airport, demanding the children’s release.

The children flew back from Mexico early this morning with a cousin who had a valid visitor visa, the activists say. The girls’ cousin is being detained, too.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers deemed the cousin “inadmissible,” according to a statement issued by a department spokesperson. The statement didn’t offer further details about the cousin’s status. “U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers have attempted numerous times today to reach family members to pick up the children. As of 2 pm [Central time] CBP Officers are still awaiting a legal guardian to arrive and pick the children up,” the statement read.

Activists say that’s a trap and the parents are afraid of being detained and placed in deportation proceedings.

“This is yet another example of the abusive practices and disregard of the law,” said Mony Ruiz-Velasco, executive director of PASO West Suburban Action Project. “They have three U.S. citizen young girls detained, causing trauma and harm to this family and our communities.”

Representative Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat from Illinois, also flew in from DC.

After releasing the children, Border Patrol tweeted:

The Democratic chairman of the House homeland security committee called for an emergency meeting with the Capitol police board to address what he said are “heightened threats” to the four lawmakers known as the “Squad”.

Reuters reports:

Representative Bennie Thompson, in a letter to Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger who heads the police board, cited “heightened threats” to four House Democrats who have come under attack by Trump, as well as other members of Congress.

“Last night at a campaign rally, the president once again used inflammatory rhetoric about the four congresswomen,” Thompson wrote in urging the meeting.

Updated

Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota received a warm welcome upon arriving in the Twin Cities, to supporters cheering, “Welcome home Ilhan.”

The Environmental Protection Agency has decided to continue allowing the use of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide that studies have associated with brain damage in children.

From The Guardian’s Sam Levin:

The US government has rejected a proposed ban on a toxic pesticide linked to brain damage in children, dismissing a growing body of research on the health hazards of a widely used agricultural chemical.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in a ruling Thursday that it supported farmers’ continued use of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide that growers have long sprayed on almonds, citrus, cotton, grapes, walnuts and other major crops in America. The decision, outlined in a response to a petition from environmental and public health groups, said “critical questions remained regarding the significance of the data” on neurological impacts on children.

The Trump administration’s endorsement of the pesticide comes years after the EPA under Obama moved to restrict use of the chemical, as scientists raised alarms. Trump’s EPA denied the conclusions of the agency’s own experts, and earlier this year, California defied the White House and announced its own state-level ban on the chemical.

Updated

Trump accepted an American flag that flew on D-day, donated by a Dutch businessman, while meeting with the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte.

The AP reports:

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History says a hole right through the middle of the tattered flag’s field of stars is believed to have come from a German machine gun bullet.

Updated

Meanwhile, representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she’s getting back to business. She and other lawmakers questioned the Department of Homeland Security acting secretary Kevin McAleenan about conditions at the US-Mexico border.

She also questioned McAleenan about a private Facebook group created by current and former border patrol agents in which they shared racist posts.

Ocasio-Cortez herself was reportedly depicted in an obscene manipulated image shared in the group, which McAleenan said is being investigated.

Updated

Jeffrey Epstein will remain behind bars while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. In his ruling, the US district judge Richard Berman noted that Epstein would be “a danger to others and the community by clear and convincing evidence” were he to be released on bail.

Updated

Maanvi Singh here, taking over the liveblog.

The supreme court justice Elena Kagan spoke at Georgetown University about the passing of justice John Paul Stevens. She said he was “sharp as a tack” until the day he died, at age 99.

She also shared her much anticipated thoughts on another important topic... the new Spiderman film.

Updated

OK folks, I’m getting ready to pass the baton on to my colleague Maanvi Singh on the West Coast. But before I go, allow me to recap where things stand:

  • Donald Trump has said he disagrees with the “send her back” chants against representative Ilhan Omar at his rally in North Carolina on Wednesday; the president sought to distance himself from the chants, which were widely condemned as racist, even though he allowed them to proceed during the rally itself.
  • Ilhan Omar is not backing down, telling reporters she thinks Trump is a “fascist” and dismissing the suggestion by some Republicans that she should scale back her criticism; Omar said the US is supposed to be a country that allows “democratic debate and dissent”.
  • Top Democrats have meanwhile voiced concern over Omar’s safety, calling for enhanced security in the wake of Trump’s attacks; Omar has acknowledged receiving death threats stemming from the president’s tweets and comments targeting her.
  • Donald Trump was involved in repeated discussions surrounding an illegal hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the 2016 campaign, according to FBI documents unsealed on Thursday; Trump and his former communications director, Hope Hicks, both discussed the issue with the president’s former attorney, Michael Cohen.
  • Donald Trump said a US naval ship shot down and “destroyed” an Iranian drone near the Strait of Hormuz; the president said the US took defensive measures after the Iranians ignored multiple commands to stand down.

As always, the news never stops... so stay tuned for more updates throughout the evening!

Updated

Ivanka Trump expressed her displeasure with the “send her back” chants against Ilhan Omar behind closed doors because of course she did.

Citing officials at the White House, the Wall Street Journal reported that the president’s daughter and senior adviser conveyed her misgivings about the episode to Donald Trump on Thursday morning.

Ivanka Trump’s silence on Trump’s attacks against four congresswomen of color, as well as the conditions at migrant detention facilities, has been a subject of scrutiny. At times, she has publicly disagreed with her father on matters of policy.

At the same time, Ivanka Trump has come under immense criticism for her role in the administration and been branded as “complicit” in the president’s conduct.

The 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has said he was out to dinner with representative Ilhan Omar and others when reports of the “send her back” chants at Donald Trump’s rally came through.

In an email to supporters, Sanders said Omar was “unfazed”. The Vermont senator has condemned Trump’s attacks against Omar.

Updated

Alas, the video of Ted Cruz accidentally swallowing a spider or insect of some sort on live TV was fake.

My apologies!

I leave you instead with this clip of Cruz imitating Winston Churchill:

Ted Cruz imitates Winston Churchill.

FBI: Trump directly involved in hush money payment to Stormy Daniels

Donald Trump and one of his top aides were directly involved in discussions that led to an illegal hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election campaign, the FBI has said.

A court filing unsealed on Thursday stated that Trump and his former communications director, Hope Hicks, spoke on several occasions with the president’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, about the payment.

Cohen paid Daniels, an adult film actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 during the 2016 campaign to prevent her from speaking out about an alleged affair with Trump. Cohen is currently serving a three-year prison sentence for financial crimes and lying to Congress.

The Guardian’s Jon Swaine has more here on what the FBI documents revealed about Trump’s involvement. It marks the first time US authorities have referred to Trump by name, and also raises the possibility that Hicks lied to the FBI:

Hicks told an agent in an interview that ‘she did not learn about the allegations made by Clifford until early November 2016’, the new filings said. Hicks, who is now a senior executive at Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation, has denied wrongdoing.”

Trump says US shot down Iranian drone near Strait of Hormuz

A US navy vessel shot down and “immediately destroyed” an Iranian drone near the Strait of Hormuz, Donald Trump announced on Thursday.

“This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters,” Trump said while speaking at an unrelated event at the White House.

“The United States reserves the right to defend our personnel, facilities, and interests.”

Trump said the Iranians ignored multiple calls to stand down and was threatening the safety of the USS Boxer and its crew. The president also called on other countries “to protect their ships as they go through the Strait” and to work with the US in the future.

Trump’s remarks come amid escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran. Last month, Iran’s revolutionary guard shot down a US military surveillance drone that they said had violated Iranian airspace.

The action prompted Trump to tweet that Iran had “made a very big mistake”.

“The Squad” has a fan in UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet.

According to Reuters, Bachelet praised the four congresswomen of color and targets of Donald Trump as “fantastic”.

“I believe that those four women are fantastic,” Bachelet said at Geneva’s Graduate Institute. “I see bright women who dare to say what they think.”

Bachelet declined to respond when asked if Trump was racist. But former South African constitutional judge Albie Sachs, who spoke alongside her, took the microphone and said: “The answer is yes.”

More from Reuters:

Bachelet said she would not use any particular adjective, but said people in a democracy should ensure respect for diversity, for people who think differently and for people of a different color.

“It is not good for leaders, global leaders, (to use) hate speech, saying things that are bad examples or bad models, because it permits and gives license to many others to be xenophobic, to be anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-everything, anti-foreign,” she said.

“That’s one of the dangers in the world today.”

Updated

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has weighed in on Donald Trump’s rally and the president’s attacks on her colleague and fellow ‘Squad’ member, Representative Ilhan Omar:

The president put millions of Americans in danger last night. His rhetoric is endangering lots of people. This is not just about threats to individual members of Congress, but it is about creating a volatile environment in this country through violent rhetoric that puts anyone, like Ilhan, anyone who believes in the rights of all people, in danger. And I think that he has a responsibility for that environment.”

Trump also took aim at Ocasio-Cortez during his rally in North Carolina on Wednesday. In addition to dismissing her criticisms of the conditions at migrant detention facilities, Trump mocked Ocasio-Cortez’s name.

“I don’t have time to go with three different names. We will call her Cortez,” he said.

Florida senator Marco Rubio is out with a video addressing the outrage over the attacks against Representative Ilhan Omar, and he is ... outraged over the outrage.

Rubio, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, tweeted that the “send her back” chants from Donald Trump’s rally on Wednesday was “grotesque”.

He then proceeded to take aim at “leftwing politicians” and the media for what he said were double standards in allegations of racism and bias, where only Republicans are labeled as white nationalists.

“The hypocrisy, the self-righteousness, outrages people, too,” Rubio said.

He also noted that while Trump’s tweet attacking the four congresswomen of color -- aka “The Squad” -- was wrong, there wasn’t enough attention being paid to the attacks the quartet of Democrats levy against their own opponents.

“No one should question that they are fully as American as we or anybody else, but they’re also political bullies,” Rubio said. “They go around attacking people … but when you hit them back, it’s because they’re women of color.”

There was, in fact, ample coverage of the feud between The Squad and House speaker Nancy Pelosi, stemming from the very public way in which the freshmen lawmakers aired their grievances with other House Democrats over matters of policy. Things got particularly ugly when Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York suggested Pelosi was explicitly “singling out of newly elected women of color”.

It was at the height of that tension that Trump decided to inject himself into the conversation, because he happened to be tweeting on Sunday and couldn’t help but sit this one out.

The rest -- as in, the part where the president said these four congresswomen of color, all American citizens, should “go back” to where they “came from” -- is history.

Only a handful of Republicans spoke out against Trump’s tweet, which by Wednesday looked as though it was fading from the conversation. But the president, who openly told reporters he was ‘enjoying’ the fight, decided to escalate matters by bringing up “The Squad” at his campaign rally in North Carolina later that evening.

It’s worth recalling that Rubio, during his own bid for president in 2016, was arguably Trump’s most visceral critic.

I covered his campaign for the Guardian, and on the day Rubio dropped out of the race he told me Trump was an “embarrassment” and that Republicans would be banished to “the wilderness” in 2016 and beyond if he was their nominee.

Rubio eventually backed Trump’s campaign and, despite their occasional disagreements, has emerged as one of the president’s most prominent supporters.

Updated

Ilhan Omar: Trump is 'a fascist'

Representative Ilhan Omar on Thursday responded to Donald Trump’s criticism of her and chants of “send her back” targeting her at his rally by reiterating her belief that the president is “racist”.

“We have said this president is racist. We have condemned his racist remarks,” Omar told reporters on Capitol Hill, while adding of Trump: “I believe he is fascist.”

Omar, a congresswoman from Minnesota, also hit back at South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham for suggesting the “send her back” chants would not have occurred had she not criticized the president.

Earlier on Thursday, Graham said the chants were not racist, telling reporters: “I don’t think a Somali refugee embracing Trump would be asked to go back.”

“If you’re racist, you want everybody to go back because they are black or Muslim. That’s not what this is about,” Graham added.

Omar reacted to Graham’s comments with disbelief, saying the Republican senator was effectively arguing that only Somali refugees who wore pro-Trump ‘Make America Great Again’ were welcome in the US.

“If I was wearing a MAGA hat, if there was a Somali person wearing a MAGA hat, they would not be deported, but because I criticize the president I should be deported,” Omar said, paraphrasing Graham’s argument.

“I want to remind people that this is what this president and his supporters have turned our country [into],” Omar said, pointing out the US was “supposed to be a country where we allow democratic debate and dissent to take place”.

“This is not about me. This is about us fighting for what our country truly should be and deserves to be.”

President asks Rohingya man, “where’s that?”

At an event at the White House yesterday, Donald Trump was told by a Rohingya muslim refugee who had fled persecution in Myanmar to a regional refugee camp that his people were hoping to “go back home as quickly as possible”.

He asked the president what was the United States’s “plan for that?”

Trump paused, then said: “And where is that exactly?”

Someone standing next to the president’s chair in the Oval Office leaned in and said, presumably referring to the refugee camp, the name of which was not clearly audible on the little video clip that emerged on Twitter today: “Right next to Burma.”

Trump replied in the direction of the refugee: “Thank you, I appreciate it.”

Then without missing a beat, he moved on to the next person. It’s tough to watch.

Updated

Trump distances himself from "send her back" chant from crowd at rally

Donald Trump a few moment ago attempted to disavow the racist chanting that broke out at his rally last night in North Carolina - despite the fact that the whole storm started from his racist tweets on Sunday.

Asked in the Oval Office just now by White House pool reporters why he did not stop the chants last night of “send her back” when he mentioned Ilhan Omar, he said: “I think I did - I started speaking very quickly.”He also added: “I was not happy with it - I disagree with it.”

It’s already been a very long week in politics in respect of race relations and immigration policy, but it was only on Sunday (followed by Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) that the president attacked Minnesota Democratic representative Omar and her closest allies in Congress by wheeling out the most obvious racist tropes, urging them to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came”.

Updated

House Democrats pass $15 minimum wage bill

The House passed a bill along party lines to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, marking a victory for Democratic leaders who had struggled to unite their party on the issue.

House Democrats hold press conference before “Raise The Wage Act” vote.
House Democrats hold press conference before “Raise The Wage Act” vote. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Even though raising the minimum wage has been a central plank of the Democratic platform for years, the party’s centrist lawmakers expressed anxiety about more than doubling the current requirement of $7.25 an hour. Democratic leadership only convinced them to back the proposal by lengthening the phasing-in process to six years, a concession that irked progressive lawmakers.

Reality check: this bill is headed nowhere. The Republican-controlled Senate is unlikely to bring it up for a vote and even less likely to pass it. But Democratic leadership still hopes the bill’s passage will give members of the caucus facing tough reelections something to tout back in their home districts.

Updated

Reports coming in of arrests involving demonstrators opposing the Trump administration’s policies relating to the US-Mexico border.

Updated

Jesse Jackson defends White House correspondents

The civil rights leader’s tweet just now, criticizing Donald Trump’s attacks on the Squad and calling for solidarity, also references women in the press.

The two journalists whose images he included in his tweet are Yamiche Alcindor, White House correspondent for PBS, and April Ryan, the DC Bureau Chief at American Urban Radio Network.

As an aside, Ryan is poised to moderate the 2020 presidential candidates’ forum at the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) convention in Detroit next Wednesday, July 24.

Last year, in a choice moment of ignorance and classic gas-lighting, Donald Trump, astonishingly, accused Alcindor of posing a “racist question” when she had asked the president whether his embrace of “nationalism” has been emboldening for the white-nationalist movement, the Daily Beast reported at the time.

And February, 2017, is seared into the memories of correspondents attending a (seemingly long lost) daily official press briefing at the White House, and the millions watching on TV, for Trump’s reaction when April Ryan asked the freshly-minted president if he was going to include the Congressional Black Caucus in conversations he will have about his “inner city” policies.

Trump responded by repeatedly and blithely asking Ryan if she could set up a meeting with the caucus, members of which the president suggested could be “friends” of hers.

He finished the interaction by saying to Ryan: “Let’s go. Set up a meeting!”

After the press conference, Ryan said on Twitter: “I am a journalist not a convener! But thank you for answering my questions.”

The caucus also tweeted a statement shortly after the conference: “Hi, @realDonaldTrump. We’re the CBC. We sent you a letter on January 19, but you never wrote us back. Sad!” A link to the letter was included.

If you’re trying to remember why July 24 rings a huge bell, by the way, it’s coz it’s MUELLER DAY. Former special counsel Robert Mueller is testifying on Capitol Hill that day.

Updated

Trump attacks Puerto Rico’s governor and San Juan’s mayor as protests continue

Donald Trump once again took to his favorite form of social media to slam Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló, who is facing demands for his resignation after a string of leaked text messages showed him making misogynistic and homophobic comments.

The outcry over the texts with his closest advisers has sparked protests in San Juan, as our correspondent Oliver Laughland reports.

Protesters gather in San Juan yesterday to demand Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló's resignation.
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO, JULY 17, 2019 Thousands fill Calle Fortaleza outside the governor’s mansion chanting songs asking for his resignation following a massive anti governor Ricky Rosselló rally in front of the Capitol building. (Photo by Angel Valentin/Freelance) Photograph: Angel Valentin/The Guardian

Trump tweeted that the governor is “under siege,” but oddly he reserved most of his ire for San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, who has been an outspoken critic of Rosselló.

“A lot of bad things are happening in Puerto Rico,” the president wrote. “The Governor is under siege, the Mayor of San Juan is a despicable and incompetent person who I wouldn’t trust under any circumstance, and the United States Congress foolishly gave 92 Billion Dollars for hurricane relief, much … of which was squandered away or wasted, never to be seen again.”

This is only the latest fight Trump has picked with Cruz, who he has previously criticized as “crazed” and “incompetent” after she accused his administration of mishandling Hurricane Maria relief efforts. She has responded in kind by calling him “unhinged.”

Protests expected outside ICE HQ in Washington

Demonstrators are reportedly on the way to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) headquarters in DC right now.

A reporter on the spot has noted via Twitter that she’s been told the HQ has gone into lockdown. This amid continued chaos on the US-Mexico border as the Trump administration tries to ban the seeking of asylum in the US via a third country (which the ACLU has said is a “patently unlawful” attempt to block migrants’ rights and has mounted a legal challenge).

Protesters are marching from Capitol Hill, where Kevin McAleenan, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the federal umbrella for Ice, is testifying this morning.

Read about the confusion being caused by the government’s so-called Wait in Mexico policy even before the latest move to try to outlaw asylum applications via Mexico for those whose journeys to the US border originated beyond Mexico.

Updated

Jesse Jackson expresses concern for Ilhan Omar safety

The civil rights leader has added his voice to the expressions of concern coming from Democrats for the security of representative Ilhan Omar, while slamming racist attacks on her and her fellow core group of progressives in the House.

Jesse Jackson tweeted a few minutes ago that the attacks are “life-threatening” and against Equal Employment Opportunity Commission workplace regulations.

He added concern also for “women in the press”.

Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr addresses the Rainbow PUSH Coalition Annual International Convention in Chicago.
Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr addresses the Rainbow PUSH Coalition Annual International Convention in Chicago. Photograph: Amr Alfiky/AP

Democrats fear for Ilhan Omar safety

Senior Washington Democrats are not only outraged at the racist attacks by the president on Ilhan Omar, with flames fanned by “send her back” chanting at Wednesday night’s Trump rally, they are intensely worried for her safety.

Party figures are now calling for authorities to evaluate security for Omar.

“It’s crystal clear to me that her life is in imminent danger,” said Bobby Rush, a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus. “He has threatened the safety of a member of Congress. That takes this to a whole different level,” writes Politico this morning.

The House’s no 4 Democratic member weighed in.

“It’s bad enough that the president didn’t stop the chant last night. But he started it. It’s instilling fear, it’s going to instill violence,” said Ben Ray Lujan.

Updated

Epstein lawyers downplay suspicious passport

Lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein have once again downplayed his having an expired Austrian passport with his photo but listing a different name -- which has been key to prosecutors’ argument against granting him bail.

The Manhattan US attorney’s office, which is prosecuting Epstein, previously said that a search of his home yielded this passport, which listed him as residing in Saudi Arabia; they contended this “gives rise to the inference the defendant knows how to obtain false travel documents and/or assume other, foreign identities. This adds to the serious risk of flight posed by the defendant.”

His lawyers, however, maintained that “in any case, Epstein – an affluent member of the Jewish faith – acquired the passport in the 1980s, when hijackings were prevalent, in connection to Middle East travel,” his lawyers previously argued.

“The passport was for personal protection in the event of travel to dangerous areas, only to be presented to potential kidnapers, hijackers or terrorists should violent episodes occur,” they also said in court papers.

In new papers filed shortly before Epstein’s bail hearing later this morning, his lawyers sought to further minimize its importance.

“Epstein was given the passport at issue by a friend. Some Jewish-Americans were informally advised at the time to carry identification bearing a non-Jewish name when traveling internationally in case of hijacking,” they maintained.

“He never used the document to travel internationally and never presented it to any immigration or customs authority. The passport stamps, predating his receipt of the document, do not reflect Mr. Epstein’s entries or exits.”

“As Mr. Epstein truthfully reported in his Pretrial Services interview, he is a life-long American citizen. He has no other citizenship or legal permanent residency,” they also claimed.

Another House Democrat calls for impeaching Trump

Another Democrat has come out in favor of impeaching Donald Trump.

Representative Peter Welch, a congressman from Vermont, issued a statement on Thursday saying he had “come to the conclusion” that the president should be impeached.

“I did not arrive at this conclusion lightly,” Welch wrote. “However, after 30 months in office, President Trump has established a clear pattern of willful disregard for our Constitution and its systems of checks and balances.”

“His presidency has wrought an unprecedented and unrelenting assault on the pillars and guardrails of our democracy, including the rule of law on which our country was founded.”

Welch did not specifically cite Trump’s attacks on four congresswomen of color in his statement, but said the president had “unleashed a torrent of attacks on fellow citizens on their race, gender, religion, and ethnic origin”.

The House of Representatives voted to table a resolution on Wednesday that would launch impeachment proceedings against Trump. The 332-to-95 vote proved that Democrats, who control the chamber, are far from ready to go that path.

A growing number of Democrats have, however, called for launching an impeachment inquiry against Trump. Most have cited his repeated attempts to obstruct justice in the Russia investigation.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi has sought to stave off impeachment proceedings, telling Democrats the issue is politically divisive and would only help Trump in his reelection bid.

Republicans defend Trump amid "send her back" chants against Omar

One of the prevailing themes of Donald Trump’s presidency has been the transformation of the Republican Party under his watch.

Despite their initial discomfort with Trump as the GOP’s standard-bearer, Republicans have increasingly embraced the former reality TV star and largely adopted his anti-immigration platform as their own.

And so when Trump went after four congresswomen of color in a series of racist tweets, Republicans were either silent or tepid in their criticism of the president. Some even defended Trump’s tweets and echoed his attacks on the quartet of Democratic lawmakers, also known as “The Squad”.

It is therefore of little surprise that Republicans are not exactly coming out swinging in the wake of the “send her back” chants against Representative Ilhan Omar at Trump’s rally in North Carolina on Wednesday.

Instead, Republicans are doing what they’ve mastered over the last two and a half years: condemning the sentiment -- but separating it from Trump, even if he is the one who has fueled it.

“Is the President a racist or not, I don’t think he is,” Representative Tim Burchett, a Republican from Tennessee, said Thursday.

In an interview with CSPAN’s Washington Journal, Burchett suggested Trump’s roots in New York were to blame for his language.

“I wouldn’t have chosen those words, they’re hurtful,” he added, before stating those offended by Trump’s attacks should toughen up: “You know what, dadgummit we’re in Congress, grow up, it’s tough, life is tough … dadgummit just take it and go.”

As we noted earlier, both Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s short-lived White House communications director, and Representative Tom Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, rejected the “send her back” chants but went on the insist Trump was not a racist.

Representative Mark Walker, a member of House Republican leadership, said he “struggled” with the anti-Omar chants. But he went on to echo Trump’s claims that she was ‘anti-American’.

“Her history, words & actions reveal her great disdain for both America & Israel,” Walker tweeted. “That should be our focus and not phrasing that’s painful to our friends in the minority communities.”

In an interview with Fox Business Network, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was not specifically asked about the “send her back” chants. But when asked about Trump’s singling out of “The Squad” at his rally, McConnell said the president was “right” that the four congresswomen were pushing the US to the brink of socialism.

“Well, look, he’s right about the squad wanting to turn us into a socialist country,” McConnell said. “What he should have added, however, is that it’s a lot broader than just four of them.”

Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, criticized the tone on both sides, tweeting: “I deeply disagree with the extreme left & have been disgusted by their tone. I woke up today equally disgusted - chants like ‘send her back’ are ugly, wrong, & would send chills down the spines of our Founding Fathers.”

Why it matters: The Republican reaction is not only informative in that it reinforces Trump’s hold over the party, but also for what it enables. Republicans often urge the president to rein in his more incendiary attacks on minorities, even as they defend his motivations and quickly move on.

Republicans insist there is a distinction between Trump’s nationalism and the agenda of white nationalists, who they dismiss as on the fringes. Trump’s rhetoric against immigrations and people of color meanwhile continues to intensify, and the nativism and xenophobia that Republicans claim is not a part of his messaging becomes more and more mainstream.

It’s effectively blaming the symptoms while ignoring the cause.

2020 Democrats rally to Ilhan Omar's defense: 'It's racist'

2020 Democratic candidates wasted no time backing Representative Ilhan Omar after the crowd at Donald Trump’s rally on Wednesday erupted into chants of “send her back”.

“It’s vile. It’s cowardly. It’s xenophobic,” California senator Kamala Harris tweeted.

“It’s racist. It defiles the office of the President. And I won’t share it here. It’s time to get Trump out of office and unite the country.”

Vermont senator Bernie Sanders also chimed in, tweeting: “The demagogue is doing what he knows best: Divide and conquer through hate. His attacks only make us stronger. #IStandWithIlhan”

Former vice president Joe Biden urged the president to stop, stating: “Our children are listening.”

“We’ve heard it before throughout our history, but it has no place in America in 2019,” Biden tweeted. “It’s clear that Donald Trump is trying to divide us by race and gender. It’s immoral.”

He went on to praise immigrants as an example of “what makes America great”, while adding: “Donald Trump thinks that our nation’s great diversity makes us weak — because he has no idea what makes us great.”

Trump’s attacks on Omar and three other congresswomen of color -- who collectively are known as “The Squad” -- have served as a rallying cry for Democrats. The president originally tweeted the four women, all of whom are US citizens, should “go back” to where they “came from”.

His nonetheless took his broadsides against Omar to another level while campaigning in North Carolina on Wednesday, which prompted the “send her back” chants from rally-goers.

New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand, another 2020 presidential contender, said Trump’s focus on Omar was the latest example of his “contempt for women”.

“Whether it’s ‘send her back’ or ‘lock her up,’ ‘there has to be some form of punishment’ or ‘grab her by the p***y’—the throughline is contempt for women and anyone who threatens this president’s fragile ego,” she said.

“He should be afraid. We are his worst nightmare. And we will beat him.”

Updated

Omar on 'send her back' chants: 'I am where I belong'

Representative Ilhan Omar remained unbowed after “send her back” chants broke out at Donald Trump’s rally in North Carolina.

“I am where I belong, at the people’s house and you’re just gonna have to deal!” Omar tweeted, alongside a photo of her presiding over the House chamber.

Omar, who arrived in the US as a Somali refugee and is a naturalized American citizen, was viscerally attacked by Trump at his rally, prompting the “send her back” chants from the crowd.

Responding on Twitter late Wednesday, Omar also quoted Maya Angelou, writing:

You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise.”

The events at the Trump rally drew widespread condemnation, as Democrats rushed to Omar’s defense and even some Republicans spoke out against the chants.

Outcry over 'send her back' chants at Ilhan Omar during Trump rally

Chants of “send her back” targeting Representative Ilhan Omar at Donald Trump’s rally in North Carolina late Wednesday drew widespread condemnation from both parties in Washington.

Democrats and Republicans alike spoke out against the nativist chant that erupted at Trump’s rally after the president attacked Omar, a Somali refugee and naturalized US citizen, from the podium.

“It saddens me beyond belief that the standard-bearer for the Republican Party, my Party, is making ‘Send her back’ his re-election rallying cry,” Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman and conservative radio host tweeted.

“It’s so ugly. It’s so un-American. It just saddens me beyond belief.”

Matt Brooks, the executive director of the Republican Jewish coalition, said: “The ‘send her back’ chants were wrong, vile, and don’t reflect who we are as Americans. I strongly oppose @IlhanMN views and policies but those chants have no place in our society.”

The chants, which harkened back to the “lock her up” chants against Hillary Clinton at Trump’s 2016 rallies, broke out after Trump attacked Omar with a series of falsehoods at his rally.

The president has targeted Omar and three other congresswomen of color -- Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts -- as he ramps up his reelection campaign.

Trump has nonetheless intensified his focus on Omar, one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, branding her as ‘anti-Semitic’ for her criticism of US policy toward Israel.

“She looks down with contempt on the hardworking Americans saying that ignorance is pervasive in many parts of this country,” Trump said of Omar on Wednesday. “And obviously, and importantly, Omar has a history of launching vicious anti-Semitic screeds.”

It was then that the crowd began chanting “send her back!” as Trump looked on. “So that’s Omar,” he noted.

Anthony Scaramucci, who served briefly as Trump’s White House communications director, criticized the events at the rally.

“It is against the idealistic values of America,” he told CNN on Thursday morning. “For me, it’s really about the ideas of America, what we stand for as a country.”

But pressed on whether Trump was racist and why he continued to support the president, Scaramucci pushed back.

“Don’t make it a moral question,” he said. “The tweets are racist. But I don’t believe he’s a racist, and he’s done a very good job for the country.”

Republican Tom Emmer, who represents Minnesota alongside Omar in Congress, also claimed Trump “does not have a racist bone in his body”.

Although Emmer said he did not watch Trump’s rally, he told a reporter there is “no place” for the chants against Omar.

Good morning everyone! Sabrina Siddiqui here, ready to take you through the day’s events in Washington.

Donald Trump kicked off another firestorm at his rally in North Carolina on Wednesday night, where his attacks on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar prompted chants of “Send her back!” from the crowd.

It was an especially ugly display, even by Trump rally standards. Omar arrived in the US at a young age as a Somali refugee and is a naturalized US citizen. In November, she became one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress.

Trump went after Omar and her peers -- Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts -- in a set of racist tweets earlier this week. The president originally said the four congresswomen of color -- all US citizens -- should “go back” to where they “came from”.

But Trump’s attacks on Omar have remained especially visceral, as evidenced by his rally late Wednesday.

Stay tuned for reaction to Trump’s rally and other news in politics.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
California women try to hit on men by sending them hashbrowns at London restaurant. It doesn’t go as planned:‘Yeah you can’t really do that in London’
Sending someone restaurant food is a pretty common flirting tactic in the U.S. However, as one TikToker found out, the same can’t be said for the U.K.
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
The Hidden Effects of Screen Time on Children's Health, Sleep, and Development
Discover how excessive screen time affects children's health, sleep, and development, and learn practical tips to manage digital habits for healthier, balanced growth.
Medical Daily
Medical Daily
Barry Keoghan: 'There’s a lot of hate online. It’s a lot of abuse of how I look'
Barry Keoghan has considered quitting acting due to abuse over his looks and says he finds it hard to deal with the comments.
BANG Premier
BANG Premier
Best thing I ever ate? My first In-N-Out burger in LA
Why the Double-Double is ‘the near perfect expression of burger-ness’
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
How AI English and human English differ – and how to decide when to use artificial language
Suspicion and affection. Apprehension and excitement. Most people have mixed feelings about AI English, whether or not they always recognize it. When reading text generated by AI, people feel it sounds off, or fake. When reading English by a human, people are more likely to feel it has a characteristic…
The Conversation
The Conversation
Delilah and Me
Back in 2002, I heard a great question, from Betchen and Paul Barber: Who cut off Samson's hair? Of course… The post Delilah and Me appeared first on Reason.com.
Reason
Reason
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play