WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump made a sarcastic reference to Rep. Ilhan Omar during a speech in Las Vegas, a day after prosecutors said a New York man was arrested for threatening to murder the freshman Minnesota Democrat.
Trump snuck in the line about Omar minutes into a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition as he ran through a list of Republican lawmakers and others supportive of Israel.
"Special thanks to Representative Omar," Trump said. "She doesn't like Israel, I forgot. I'm so sorry, no she doesn't like Israel, does she?"
Patrick Carlineo Jr., 55, of Addison, N.Y., was arrested and charged with threatening to assault and murder the Muslim lawmaker in a phone call with one of her staffers on March 21, the Justice Department said in a statement on Friday.
Carlineo allegedly asked, "Do you work for the Muslim Brotherhood? Why are you working for her, she's an (expletive) terrorist. I'll put a bullet in her (expletive) skull."
The FBI, which investigated the threat along with the U.S. Capitol Police, said in a criminal complaint that Carlineo sounded angry during the call but "spelled his name correctly and provided contact information," the Associated Press reported.
Omar, one of the first two Muslim congresswomen elected to the House, has faced a backlash from Republicans and many Democrats for comments this year on Israel, including a suggestion that support for the Jewish state was influenced by financial support by the pro-Israel lobby and in some cases amounted to "allegiance to a foreign country."
Trump spoke in Las Vegas three days before Israel's general election. He also called on Jewish voters in the U.S. to end their traditional allegiance to Democratic candidates.
