Trump Says Ilhan Omar’s Apology Was ‘Lame’ And ‘She Should Resign’

In a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, President Trump addressed the recent controversy concerning Rep. Ilhan Omar’s recent anti-Israel comments, saying “Congressman Omar, it’s terrible what she said. And I think she should either resign from Congress, or she should certainly resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.”

President Trump on Rep. @IlhanMN: “Her lame apology, and that’s what it was, it was lame, and she didn’t mean a word of it was just not appropriate. I think she should resign from Congress.” pic.twitter.com/6rbPUDdFuz

— CSPAN (@cspan) February 12, 2019

The President expressed doubts to the sincerity of the apology Rep. Omar issued on Monday over the statements. He said, “What she said was so deep seated in her heart, that her lame apology, and thats what it was it was lame and she didn’t mean a word of it, was just not appropriate. I think she should resign from Congress, frankly. But at a minimum she shouldn’t be on committees, and certainly that committee.”

President Trump was referring to the below apology that Omar tweeted responding to backlash from previous anti-Israel and anti-Semitic Twitter comments.

Listening and learning, but standing strong 💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/7TSroSf8h1

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— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 11, 2019

Ilhan Omar’s response to a tweet questioning the U.S political motive in supporting Israel was the beginning of the controversy. She claimed that U.S politicians sacrifice free speech to defend Israel because of some ambiguous monetary incentive, or “the Benjamins”.

It’s all about the Benjamins baby 🎶 https://t.co/KatcXJnZLV

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 10, 2019

Batya Ungar-Sargon, an editor at Forward, questioned Omar’s response, asking who she thought was paying American politicians to support Israel.

Would love to know who @IlhanMN thinks is paying American politicians to be pro-Israel, though I think I can guess. Bad form, Congresswoman. That’s the second anti-Semitic trope you’ve tweeted. https://t.co/FTCaCe7WyG

— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) February 11, 2019

Omar claimed that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) was doing so.

AIPAC! https://t.co/UdzaFUEfrh

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 11, 2019