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Home • News

Trump Supporters At North Carolina Rally Shout 'Send Her Back' In Attacks Against Rep. Ilhan Omar

Shortly after the racist chant, the hashtag #IStandWithIlhan started trending.
Ilhan Omar Dances To ‘Hometown Girl’ Lizzo's ‘Truth Hurts’ Video
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
By Breanna Edwards · Updated October 23, 2020
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A Trump 2020 campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, descended into a cesspool of hatred after the crowd started chanting “send her back! send her back!” referencing Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a United States citizen who came to the country almost 30 years ago as a child refugee.

As the Guardian notes, Trump used the rally to attack Omar and the other three Democratic congresswomen known as “The Squad,” calling them “hate-filled extremists.”

Over the past week, the president has attacked the women and their loyalties online and in the media – all starting with telling the lawmakers who are all women of color, to “go back” to their “crime-infested” countries.

This is, of course, despite the fact that Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich) were all born in the United States, and that Omar herself has been a citizen longer than the current first lady, Melania Trump.

But Trump is showing his hand, and how he will play it in the next election season, repeatedly doubling down on his words, even as the House of Representatives voted yesterday to condemn his racist language.

As Trump directly referenced Omar in his rally speech on Wednesday, the crowd booed, before launching into their raucous chants of “send her back.”

The appalling chant immediately led to swift push back on Twitter, with the hashtag #IStandWithIlhan trending as elected officials and others started tweeting in Omar’s defense and calling out the racist behavior.

Every single Trump supporter in the galaxy is a racist.

EVERY SINGLE ONE.

PERIOD.#IStandWithIlhan pic.twitter.com/JGylz5chuG

— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) July 18, 2019

#IStandWithIlhan She is a friend.
We have talked about Minnesota voters, who she cares about. She cares about students. She supports women. She supports other civically engaged women (that’s how we met!) She is a good mother, citizen, friend and an important member of Congress. pic.twitter.com/NPZLukTRXM

— Piper Perabo (@PiperPerabo) July 18, 2019

#IStandWithIlhan and am proud to work with her in Congress.

Trump is stoking the most despicable and disturbing currents in our society. And that very hatred and racism fuels him. We must fight together to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of our country.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 18, 2019

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.

It’s so ugly. It’s so un-American. It just saddens me beyond belief. https://t.co/eM7WT5HZVq

— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) July 18, 2019

This is monstrous. It deserves condemnation by the free world. #IStandWithIlhan https://t.co/sOstESBjxF

— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) July 18, 2019

You don't have to agree with everything (or anything) naturalized US citizen Rep. Ilhan Omar says to stand with her tonight. I hope you will RETWEET this if, like me, your response to the vile chants of "Send her back!" at Trump's hateful North Carolina rally is #IStandWithIlhan.

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) July 18, 2019

"Send her back?" Yes! Please send @Ilhan back to Congress where she is fighting for her constituents, articulating a bold vision of progressive foreign policy, and expanding the public’s imagination of what a Member of Congress looks like. https://t.co/k92VYcLBpi

— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) July 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/MattKleinSD52/status/1151666935341420544

Omar herself responded to the outright racism with all the confidence and class that one would expect from her.

In one tweet, she shared a photo of her presiding over the U.S. House of Representatives, writing: “I am where I belong, at the people’s house and you’re just gonna have to deal!”

👋🏽 I am where I belong, at the people’s house and you’re just gonna have to deal! pic.twitter.com/W0OvDXGxQX

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 18, 2019

She also responded with words from the iconic Maya Angelou poem, Still I Rise.

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.

-Maya Angelou https://t.co/46jcXSXF0B

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 18, 2019
TOPICS:  Donald Trump Ilhan Omar islamophobia North Carolina send her back Trump rally White Supremacy