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Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar appeared on CNN this morning and defended a baseless tweet in which she alleged that Sen. Lindsey Graham is compromised––as in being blackmailed.
In a rambling response, Omar said she is “pretty sure” that the Trump admin has something on Graham. Asked what that might be, she suggested something having to do with campaign finances, or senate leadership positions, which sounds a lot more like normal politics than blackmail.
When pressed for evidence, she failed to present any and finally described the tweet as an “opinion based on things visible to me.”
The response drew attention because of its similarity to a conspiracy theory suggesting that Graham is gay and that is what’s being held over his head.
If indeed that is what Omar was winking at, it’s shameful and homophobic, but even if it wasn’t, her accusation is baseless, dangerous, and she should immediately apologize to Graham.
That the claim is baseless is obvious from the video. The only thing approaching evidence that she cites is that Graham has changed his mind about Donald Trump over the past few years.
Well, I’ve got news for Omar, so have a lot of people, and not all of them are being blackmailed by some nefarious Trump organization. Graham has said very critical things about Trump in the past, many during the hotly contested 2016 primary in which the two men were opponents.
Under Rule XXIII 1., the code of conduct in the House rules, members “shall behave at all times in a manner that that shall reflect credibility on the House.” This absurd accusation against Graham is about the farthest thing from reflecting credibility that one can imagine.
And the fact that it is leveled against a fellow member of Congress only makes it worse, if our legislators are acting in such absolutely bad faith how can they possibly come together to get the people’s work done?
The people of Minnesota and the nation deserve better than this. They deserve representatives with enough courage and conviction to admit when they make a mistake, own it, and say so. Republicans and Democrats alike should call on Representative Omar to do just that.
