Ilhan Omar Hits Back at Trump: 'You Have Trafficked in Hate Your Whole Life... When Will You' Learn?

Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar hit back at Donald Trump Wednesday after the president said her apology for tweets that were accused of being anti-Semitic was "lame." Responding to remarks from the president during a cabinet meeting the previous day, Omar brought up Trump's own history of offensive remarks for which he has rarely, if ever, apologized.

"You have trafficked in hate your whole life—against Jews, Muslims, Indigenous, immigrants, black people and more," Omar, one of the first two Muslim congresswomen wrote. "I learned from people impacted by my words. When will you?"

Hi @realDonaldTrump-

You have trafficked in hate your whole life—against Jews, Muslims, Indigenous, immigrants, black people and more. I learned from people impacted by my words. When will you? https://t.co/EqqTyjkiNE

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 13, 2019

During his campaign Trump called for banning all Muslims from the United States and as president reportedly referred to immigrants from Africa, Haiti and El Salvador as being from "shithole countries." More recently, he has continued to refer to Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren using the slur "Pocahontas," while this weekend attempted to mock her by appearing to reference the genocide of Native Americans on the Trail of Tears.

Trump has also faced accusations of anti-Semitism in the past. In 2013, Trump tweeted an attack on comedian Jon Stewart by using his original Jewish name.

"I promise you that I'm much smarter than Jonathan Leibowitz — I mean Jon Stewart @TheDailyShow. Who, by the way, is totally overrated," he wrote.

During his campaign, Trump gave a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition and said: "You're not going to support me because I don't want your money."

Despite this history, Trump rounded on Omar Tuesday, even calling on her to resign.

"Anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress," Trump said. "And I think she should either resign from Congress or she should certainly resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee."

Trump added that the comments were "deep-seated in her heart."

Omar attracted criticism, including from her own party's leadership, for tweeting that U.S. support for Israel was based on money from a pro-Israel lobbying group.

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