US Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez continued to spark indignation while defending her newly elected colleague Ilhan Omar, this time by using a poem about the Holocaust to back the Minnesota Democratic Rep.
The move was targeted against critics of Omar, after it recently surfaced that she had made controversial remarks last month referring to the 9/11 terrorist attacks as “some people did something”.
Ocasio-Cortez slammed President Donald Trump, who posted a sensitive video sporting Omar’s remarks alongside footage of the Twin Towers collapsing in the terrorist attack.
She outspokenly stated that Omar is currently in danger and that she deems it to be her duty to stand up in her defence to rule out the “dangerous targeting of a member of Congress”.
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In a bid to support her stance, she shared an image of the words of "First they came…", the famed poem by German theologian Martin Niemöller that was inspired by the millions who perished in the Holocaust. The words are notably mounted on a wall at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
The poem reads:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
"Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
"Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
"Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me”.
A massive backlash followed instantly, with netizens accusing her of belittling the Holocaust in defence of Omar, who has been caught making anti-Semitic remarks multiple times, igniting, in her turn, outrage among the public.
"There's something deeply disturbing about AOC making Holocaust references to defend an open and unrepentant anti-Semite who is merely being criticized", wrote Ben Shapiro, the conservative writer and commentator.
Others echoed the derogatory rhetoric:
Others directed mostly general critical remarks against Cortez and Omar as incumbent politicians:
There are, however, those, to appear to stand with Ilhan Omar, opting to attack Trump’s anti-Muslim stance:
Ocasio-Cortez referred earlier to Omar being knocked as “incitement of violence” against women of colour. She also caused a stir earlier this week as she attacked US Republican Rep. for Texas Dan Crenshaw, a Navy SEAL veteran who served in Afghanistan, for his calling out Omar, telling him he should “go do something” about domestic terrorism.