President Donald Trump continued to assail four Democratic congresswomen Wednesday night, heating up his rhetoric during a campaign rally in North Carolina, especially toward U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, at one point prompting the fervent crowd to chant "Send her back!"
Trump's remarks at the Greenville event came just days after he tweeted that the Democratic congresswomen should go back to the "totally broken and crime infested places from which they came," referring to Omar and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York, Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib, of Michigan. All were born in the U.S. except for Omar, who came to the U.S. as a child after fleeing Somalia with her family.
Omar responded Wednesday night by tweeting a quote from poet Maya Angelou.
She later added: "I am where I belong, at the people's house and you're just gonna have to deal!"
So who is Ilhan Omar?
Omar, 36, is a freshman congresswoman representing the 5th District of Minnesota, which includes one of the largest Somali-American communities in the country. She defeated Republican Jennifer Zielinski in November 2018 to become the first Somali-American elected to the House. She and Tlaib, are the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress.
Omar, fled war-torn Somalia with her family when she was 8 year old. She spent years in a Kenyan refugee camp before immigrating to the United States in 1995 and eventually moving to Minnesota. She became a citizen in 2000.
She has advocated for single-payer health care, tighter gun restrictions and more expansive immigration policies.
This is not the first time the freshman representative has had a war of words with the president.
Earlier this year, Trump criticized Omar for remarks she made March 23 during a Council on American-Islamic Relations event.
Omar said she faced increased threats on her life because of the criticism. A man from upstate New York was charged with making death threats against her earlier this year.
Omar was has also been criticized for comments and statements that were considered anti-Semitic and anti-Israel. She quickly apologized for the remarks.
“You have trafficked in hate your whole life — against Jews, Muslims, Indigenous, immigrants, black people and more,” Omar said on social media February about the president. “I learned from people impacted by my words. When will you?”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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