The president relished in the idea of killing Somalis at a rally before the incident.
President Donald Trump attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) just hours before she was assaulted on Tuesday evening, with the president mocking her and relishing in violence against Somalis at a campaign rally.
As Omar spoke during a town hall on Trump’s militarized raid of Minnesota, a man suddenly lunged at her and sprayed her with an unknown substance in a syringe. Video of the attack circulated widely online.
Omar was undeterred and continued the town hall. Police arrested the man, who they identified as Anthony James Kazmierczak. Her office later issued a statement saying that she is “okay” after the incident.
Just hours before, at a rally in Clive, Iowa, the president waged another one of his bigoted attacks on Omar — one of countless times he’s fixated on the lawmaker in recent months.
When speaking about supposed violence caused by immigrants, Trump said immigrants must “show that they can love our country, they have to be proud. Not like Ilhan Omar.” The crowd booed.
“Did you see that wise guy? You know, she’s always talking about, ‘the Constitution provides me with the following,’” he said, putting on a mocking voice.
He went on to make racist remarks about Somalia and Somali people, as he’s done numerous times in recent months, and relished in the idea of committing violence against them.
“They’re good at one thing: pirates. But they don’t do that anymore. You know why? Because they get the same treatment from us as the drug dealers get: Boom, boom, boom,” he said to laughter and applause, referring to his administration’s illegal boat strike campaign.
