Ilhan Omar has tried to walk back her scathing criticism of former president Barack Obama by tweeting a clip of her actual response to the reporter and accusing him of distorting her words, only to prove that he got it right.
Calling herself “an Obama fan,” Omar claimed she was contrasting the former US leader with President Donald Trump, claiming the reporter had “distorted” her words deliberately.
The only problem? The clip she tweeted confirms the reporter got her words right. We hear Omar saying Democratic leaders have “conducted themselves within the system” in shameful ways – separating families at the border and drone-bombing countries around the world, just like Trump. She says Trump’s policies are bad but that “many of the people who came before him also had really bad policies, they just were more polished than he was.”
Also on rt.com Obama was a smiling murderer, says Ilhan Omar… then tries to backtrackAnd the line that has everybody talking is there, crystal clear: “We don’t want anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want to recognize the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the smile,” Omar says.
The Politico reporter she’d accused of malicious misquotation, Tim Alberta, was quick to claim he’d been vindicated.
Many were surprised to hear the freshman congresswoman call out the first black president, who, despite policies largely indistinguishable from his predecessor George W. Bush, has enjoyed high approval ratings, thanks in part to his smooth speech and immaculate presentation. But just as many cheered Omar for her continued willingness to speak truth to power, and were confused by her willingness to eat her words.
Others took pleasure in watching her squirm.
Or insisted there was something missing.
Others stuck up for Omar and accused Alberta of taking her words out of context anyway.
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