Progressive Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minn.) recently argued that efforts to impeach President Donald Trump are similar to the need to “hold a murderer” accountable for their crimes.
Omar made the comments during an interview with MSNBC anchor Hallie Jackson on Tuesday, during which the congresswoman defended Democratic efforts to impeach the president, accusing him of rousing a mob of his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol last week.
“I know that some have likened the reaction that we are getting, obviously, from the president and some of, you know, Democrats and some Republicans in Congress, to someone saying, you know, if we were to hold a murderer or someone who has committed violence accountable, there will be more. And to me, it is really the — having consequences for actions that act as a deterrent,” Omar said.
“We know that some have said he’s learned his lesson, some have also used childlike analogies to talk about he has put his hand on a stove and he is now burned and he won’t do it again, but this is not just about him. This is about fulfilling our oath of office. And if we do not take that serious [sic], I don’t know how we can continue to be members of Congress and say that we are to protect our country from domestic enemies,” she added.
Ilhan Omar: The Need to Impeach Trump Is Just Like the Need to ‘Hold a Murderer’ Accountable
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Omar had previously argued that Republicans had “blood on their hands” as a result of the riot.
The shocking incident, which resulted in the deaths of five people and injuries to many more, took place last Wednesday after the president delivered an impassioned speech to hundreds of thousands of supporters gathered in Washington, D.C., asking them to “peacefully and patriotically” protest the results of the election.
Tragically, hundreds of the supporters opted to make their voices heard through violence by fighting with police, breaching security perimeters, and invading the Capitol where Congress had convened to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
In his first public comments since last week, the president characterized the latest impeachment effort as a “continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics” and argued that continuing on with impeachment would only cause “tremendous anger.”
He also defended his speech before the violence, saying it was “totally appropriate.”
“If you read my speech — and many people have done it, and I’ve seen it both in the papers and in the media, on television — it has been analyzed, and people thought that what I said was totally appropriate,” he said. “They’ve analyzed my speech and my words and my final paragraph, my final sentence, and everybody to a T thought it was totally appropriate.”