Ilhan Omar hits back at Fox News anchor after anti-immigrant segment

Tucker Carlson condemned the Muslim congresswoman for not being ‘grateful’ to the US for allowing her to move there. The hard-right talk show host was widely condemned for racism.

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) participates in a news conference to call on Congress to cut funding for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. February 7, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Reuters

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) participates in a news conference to call on Congress to cut funding for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. February 7, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Somali-American legislator Ilhan Omar is once again the target of attacks by right-wing commentators, but the Democrat congresswoman is fighting back.

The Muslim-American politician was the subject of a tirade by Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday evening that has been widely condemned for racism.

In the segment, Carlson tells Omar that she should be ‘grateful’ that she was allowed to move to the US.

“Ilhan Omar has an awful lot to be grateful for, but she isn’t grateful, not at all. After everything America has done for Omar and for her family, she hates this country more than ever,” the Fox News host said. He went on to describe Omar as ‘proof’ that immigration was dangerous to the US.

The speech was widely condemned as racist. Andrew Lawrence of the progressive media watchdog Media Matters, said Carlson’s rant was a “stunning racist attack”.

“I'm seriously in complete shock at this monologue. It is probably the most racist s**t this guy has said on his show and he's said a lot of racist s**t,” he said.

Death threats

The Democrat lawmaker has been subject to death threats from far-right activists riled up by media coverage.

She was subject to thousands of threats in April when right-wing media outlets accused her - without basis - of disrespecting the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Omar moved to the US aged 14 from Kenya where she was living as a refugee after fleeing civil war in her birth country of Somalia.

Since her election to the House of Representatives in November 2018, Omar has become a leading progressive figure within Congress.

She campaigns for free college tuition, universal healthcare, and increased taxes on corporations, which during the Trump and Obama administrations have benefitted from tax breaks and government bailouts. 

On the foreign policy front, she had spoken out against traditional allies of the US establishment, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia.

And she has proven no pushover when attacked for her views by the right.

Responding to Carlson’s comments on her Twitter page, she called the hard-right host a “racist fool”.

“Fox News is now giving a nightly platform to white supremacist rhetoric. It’s dangerous,” she wrote. “Advertisers should not be underwriting hate speech.”

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