Rep. Ilhan Omar says Trump tweet 'spread lies that put my life at risk'

Image: Ilhan Omar
Omar said on Twitter that the video of her dancing was actually recorded during an event hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus over the weekend to celebrate black women in Congress. Copyright J. Scott Applewhite AP file
Copyright J. Scott Applewhite AP file
By Rebecca Shabad with NBC News Politics
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The president on Wednesday retweeted a video of the congresswoman dancing that included a false claim that it was footage of her celebrating on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

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WASHINGTON — Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said Wednesday that President Donald Trump had put her in danger by retweeting a video of her dancing with a description that falsely claimed it showed her celebrating on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Omar said on Twitter that the video of her dancing was actually recorded during an event hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus over the 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?" her tweet continued.

The video, which was tweeted out by Trump supporter Terrence K. Williams, then appeared to be taken down.

The event Omar attended was part of the Congressional Black Caucus's annual legislative conference that began Sept. 11 and lasted until Sept. 15. A co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Adam Green, posted a video taken at the event on Twitter on Sept. 13.

The PCCC tweeted Wednesday that the tweet promoted by Trump on Wednesday "is an abhorrent lie that endangers a Member of Congress. Twitter must remove Trump's Tweet now."

Trump originally retweeted the video Wednesday morning, along with a suggestion her behavior would help Republicans win her state. "IIhan Omar, a member of AOC Plus 3, will win us the Great State of Minnesota. The new face of the Democrat Party!"

Earlier this year, Trump tweeted an edited video of the footage of the World Trade Center on 9/11 spliced with a clip of Omar speaking at an event in which she suggested the Council on American-Islamic Relations was established in response to the 2001 attacks "because they recognized that some people did something."

Omar said that that video had provoked new death threats against her. That Trump tweet prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to call on Capitol Police to conduct a security assessment to safeguard Omar.

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