Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) shared an edited clip of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Thursday in an attempt to discredit her.
The Florida senator shared video of Omar speaking with Al Jazeera English in 2018, where she was asked about the rise of Islamophobia and whether it was because of “fear” and not “hate.”
In the clip shared by Rubio, Omar appears to be advocating for the “profiling” and “monitoring” of white men in America.
However, the clip edits out part of Omar’s answer, where it appears she was using the example of white men to criticize the hypocrisy of using “fear” as a reason for being suspicious and of a group of people.
“I am sure the media will now hound every Democrat to denounce this statement as racist. Right?” Rubio wrote on Twitter on Thursday afternoon, with a clip of the edited interview.
I am sure the media will now hound every Democrat to denounce this statement as racist. Right? https://t.co/UewkblF8Oo
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 25, 2019
In the clip Rubio shared, it leaves out part of Omar’s answer. Here’s the full exchange:
Host: A lot of conservatives in particular would say that the rise in Islamophobia is a result not of hate, but of fear—a legitimate fear, they say—of ‘jihadist terrorism,’ whether its Fort Hood, or San Bernadino, or the recent truck attack in New York. What do you say to them?
Omar: I would say our country should be more fearful of white men across our country, because they are actually causing most of the deaths within this country. So, if fear was the driving force of policies to keep America safe, Americans safe inside of this country, we should be profiling, monitoring, and creating policies to fight the radicalization of white men.
After another question, she continues:
“The focus of our policies should be about keeping Americans safe, keeping us domestically safe. And where we actually find a solution is looking at our foreign policy, how we are engaging with the members of these communities and the kind of rhetoric that is being spewed out of leaders within our city halls, within our state capitols.”
Rubio’s use of sharing a clip that was edited to omit some context of her answer was blasted by people on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/WesleyLowery/status/1154442846101000192
1) This clip has been selectively edited
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) July 25, 2019
2) This is essentially what the FBI director said this week
https://t.co/T6MfNxTgxx
https://twitter.com/DCclone/status/1154443648920150016
Pro tip: watch the actual interview and see what question she's answering. https://t.co/W5d0yVFKpm
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) July 25, 2019
Stick to tweeting bible verses and let others share fraudulently edited clips, Senator https://t.co/0FmQNcblHl
— Tony Corsentino (@corsent) July 25, 2019
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