Omar asks Twitter what it’s doing in response to Trump spreading ‘lies that put my life at risk’

by Zack Budryk - 09/18/19 12:10 PM ET

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) asked Wednesday what Twitter would do about “lies that put my life at risk” after President Trump promoted a false claim that a video of her and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) dancing was filmed on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

“This is from a CBC event we hosted this weekend to celebrate black women in Congress. The President of the United States is continuing to spread lies that put my life at risk. What is Twitter doing to combat this misinformation?” Omar tweeted after Trump quote-tweeted a tweet from user Terrence K. Williams falsely claiming the Sept. 13 video was taken on Sept. 11.

This is from a CBC event we hosted this weekend to celebrate black women in Congress.

The President of the United States is continuing to spread lies that put my life at risk.

What is Twitter doing to combat this misinformation? https://t.co/XdkRVrU7mZ

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) September 18, 2019

The clip of the two dancing to Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” initially went viral on Saturday after it was first tweeted, with the rapper and singer, who, like Omar, is from Minneapolis, retweeting it.

After the quote-tweet from the president, which Williams also retweeted, Williams apparently deleted the original. The Hill has reached out to Williams for comment. A Twitter spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that the tweet was not deleted as a result of any action by the company.

Trump previously retweeted Williams when he suggested the Clintons had ordered the killing of financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Omar also retweeted several other accounts noting the lie, including CNN’s Jake Tapper, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sirius XM host Zerlina Maxwell.

It comes as no surprise that Donald Trump’s racism and xenophobia knows no bounds. I look forward to continue working with Rep. Omar long after Trump loses in 2020. https://t.co/IW9i3xZVCe

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) September 18, 2019

1/ Anatomy of a smear: progressive activist @AdamGreen posts on Sept 13, at a reception for the Congressional Black Caucus annual legislative conference, video of @IlhanMN dancing:https://t.co/sYFKN76rto

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 18, 2019

The president just RT’d a lie. We all know this video of Ilhan is from this weekend bc we saw them post it in real time. https://t.co/ruIhQekmzz

— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) September 18, 2019

Death threats against Omar previously spiked after Trump tweeted a video splicing images of the 9/11 attacks with comments Omar made saying that in the wake of the attacks, all Muslims were considered suspect because “some people did something,” which prompted outrage on the right and accusations of trivializing the terrorist attacks.

Omar later doubled down on calls for Twitter to take action against the president’s account, tweeting: “Enough! Twitter needs to hold this #Lyingpresident accountable.”