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"Certainly the president is wishing no ill will, certainly not
violence towards anyone," Sanders told ABC News' "This Week"
show. "But the president is absolutely and should be calling out
the congresswoman for her, not only one-time, but history of
anti-Semitic comments," she said.
Lawmakers from Trump's Republican Party have accused Omar of
minimizing the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks by al
Qaeda on the United States that killed almost 3,000 people,
while critics of the president say he took Omar's words out of
context in order to stoke anti-Muslim sentiment.
On Saturday, Trump tweeted a video suggesting that Omar, a U.S.
representative from Minnesota, had been dismissive of the 9/11
attacks that destroyed New York's World Trade Center and struck
the Pentagon outside Washington. The video spliced news footage
of 9/11 with a clip from a speech Omar gave last month in which
she described the attack as "some people did something."
Several prominent Democrats, including presidential candidates
Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, condemned Trump's
tweet, saying he was inciting racism and violence toward Omar
with the video. Omar has said she has been the target of
islamophobic death threats.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a
statement on Sunday she had spoken with the sergeant-at-arms,
who is responsible for safety in Congress, to ensure that
Capitol Hill Police were conducting a security assessment to
safeguard Omar, her family and her staff.
"The President's words weigh a ton, and his hateful and
inflammatory rhetoric creates real danger. President Trump must
take down his disrespectful and dangerous video," Pelosi said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for
comment regarding Pelosi's statement.
In her speech before a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group,
Omar said Muslims had "lived with the discomfort of being a
second-class citizen and, frankly, I'm tired of it, and every
single Muslim in this country should be tired of it."
Sarah Sanders called Omar's comments "disgraceful and
unbefitting," and questioned what she saw as lack of action from
Democrats on the issue. "I think it's a good thing that the
president is calling her out for those comments and the big
question is why aren't the Democrats doing it," she said.
Omar's comments began circulating in media outlets last week,
leading critics to question her loyalty to the United States.
Responding in a tweet, Omar said the commentary amounted to
"dangerous incitement," adding: "My love and commitment to our
country and that of my colleagues should never be in question."
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Michelle Price, Nick
Zieminski and Peter Cooney)
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