Ilhan Omar calls Republicans a ‘clown show’ for demanding Biden send National Guard to tackle anti-Israel college protesters

Rep. Ilhan Omar said Republicans were putting on a “clown show” after House Speaker Mike Johnson visited Columbia University to condemn anti-Israel protesters who set up an encampment on campus.

The progressive team member, whose daughter was arrested during the protests last week, agreed that Republicans are hypocrites for demanding that President Joe Biden call in the National Guard to break up demonstrations on college campuses but encouraging protesters during the Capitol riot of January 6, 2021. .

But Republicans argue that a greater law enforcement presence is needed because Jewish students feel threatened by pro-Palestinian protesters, especially in Columbia, where an encampment has taken over the campus and refused to disperse despite the president’s demands the University.

Omar told MSNBC in an interview with the middle-aged protesters on Wednesday night that “history will be on their side,” claiming they do not want to be “complacent” in the “Israeli genocide” of the Palestinians.

Calling themselves the Gaza Solidarity Encampment (pictured), hundreds have set up camp on Columbia’s campus to protest the war between Israel and Hamas terrorists. Jewish students have been advised to avoid campus and take classes virtually during the demonstrations

She did not directly address the arrest of her daughter Irsa Hirsi, 21, after students from Barnard College participated in anti-Israel protests at Columbia, their sister school.

Omar joins Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in condemning demands for the National Guard to be called in to disperse protesters who have set up camp on campus.

“Involving police enforcement in nonviolent demonstrations of young students on campus is an escalating, reckless and dangerous act,” AOC wrote on X on Tuesday evening.

She added: “It represents an appalling failure of leadership that is putting people’s lives at risk. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”

Columbia President Minouche Shafik reportedly threatened to call in the National Guard to disperse the group of protesters, who call themselves the Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

Shafik is facing condemnation from both progressives and Republicans – including Chairman Johnson.

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday dismissed the boos and jeers from students in Columbia, instead condemning the protest as the latest in the “virus of anti-Semitism.”

Omar’s daughter Irsa Hirsi, 21, was arrested last week for refusing to leave an encampment on Columbia’s campus and subsequently suspended from Barnard College

The Louisiana lawmaker went to Columbia in Manhattan on Wednesday to scold the “lawless agitators and radicals.”

He questioned the ability of these Ivy League students to become future “leaders of America” and praised the Jewish students who remain committed to their education despite mounting threats.

“We will not remain silent while Jewish students are expected to run for their lives,” Johnson warned.

Omar responded to his visit on MSNBC.

“I mean, it’s a complete clown show,” she said in the interview with host Alex Wagner. “These people don’t care about violent protests. They don’t care about the First Amendment.”

“They care about putting on their political theater, and that’s what they usually do,” the Minnesota representative continued. “These are people who supported the insurgents on January 6, who threatened my life and the lives of all our colleagues.”

“It’s really amazing that they want to be taken seriously today as they call for the arrival of the National Guard.”

She claimed that Johnson’s visit was only intended to “spark anger and hatred, and endanger the lives of young people at the Columbia University encampment.”

“This whole conference is a joke, and no one should take it seriously,” Omar said.

When Omar was elected in 2018, he became the first lawmaker to wear a hijab on the floor of the House of Representatives.

She and her fellow so-called Squad members are staunchly pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel in the war with Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,160 people, mostly civilians. It resulted in the largest massacre of Jewish people in one day since the Holocaust.

Israel responded with months of barrage against Hamas in Gaza, demanding the return of hostages remaining in the Palestinian enclave. The attacks have killed thousands of Palestinian civilians and increased international outrage over the conflict.

Israel’s leadership insists it is only targeting Hamas, but the terrorist organization is using civilians as shields.