Fox News Channel host Brian Kilmeade asked what seems like an obvious question, that may have crossed many of our minds. On Wednesday during a segment of “Fox & Friends”, the host took on Rep Ilhan Omar (D-MN), saying “You have to Wonder if she’s an American first”. Kilmeade was co-host together with Steve Doocy and Ainsley Earhardt, and was referring to the freshman Democrat’s speech on March 23th, to the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Omar was bolstering the necessity for the organization and said, “CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.” The statement led Kilmeade to wonder out loud on the morning show, “Really? “Some people did something?” he gasped at her description of what is known as the single deadliest terrorist attack.
On Wednesday, Omar took to Twitter in her own defense. “My love and commitment to our country and that of my colleagues should never be questioned,” she tweeted. “We are ALL Americans.” She also said Kilmeade is guilty of a “dangerous incitement” for questioning her loyalty to the United States, based on the fact that she’s been the subject of death threats in the past.
Kilmeade is the second Fox host in a month to have made a splash with comments about Omar. Fox condemned and suspended Saturday host Jeanine Pirro for two weeks, following her statement about whether Omar’s use of a Muslim head covering indicates she was a follower of Islamic religious law. Despite the network’s chastisement, Pirro did not apologize or retract from what she said, and neither has Kilmeade.
Kilmeade replied saying, “I didn’t intend to question whether Rep. Omar is an American,” he Twitted. “I am questioning how any American, let alone a United States congresswoman, could downplay the 9/11 attacks.” Fox News had no immediate comment or condemnation for Kilmeade.
Omar called on politicians of both parties to unite in condemning Kilmeade. A spokesman for Omar did not immediately respond to questions about the criticism she has received about her reference to the attacks. Omar appeared on CBS’s “Late Show” with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday night. There, the first-term congresswoman spoke of the “double standard”, where only she faces criticism for her “insinuations”. “They actually said that I might not be an American, that my loyalties might not be to this country,” Omar said, “but I get called out. They don’t. They get to keep their show.”
