Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told reporters Thursday night that criticism of her and Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar has become “an incitement of violence against progressive women of color.” That criticism has centered upon Omar’s apparent dismissal of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Ocasio-Cortez suggested her opponents “get back to policy” after Omar recently told a Los Angeles gathering of the Council on American-Islamic Relations that 9/11 was an event where “some people did something.” (RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez Defends Omar, Claims She’s Done More For 9/11 Victims Than Dan Crenshaw)
AOC on NY Post/Ilhan Omar front page: “We are getting to the level where this is an incitement of violence against progressive women of color and if they can’t figure out how to get it back to policy, we need to call it out for what it is because this is not normal.” pic.twitter.com/Zxad5H4I8n
— Jason Donner (@jason_donner) April 11, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez Defends Omar, Claims She’s Done More For 9/11 Victims Than Dan Crenshaw https://t.co/qP3WDd3886
— The Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 11, 2019
“We are getting to the level that this is an incitement of violence against progressive women of color and if they can’t figure out how to get back to policy, we have to call it our for what it is because this is not normal and this is not a normal level of political debate or rhetoric,” the congresswoman said.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) participates in a news conference by members of the U.S. Congress “to announce legislation to repeal President Trumps existing executive order blocking travel from majority Muslim countries” outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Jim Bourg
She suggested it was wrong to put pictures of the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York on the front page of the newspaper because such images are “incredibly upsetting and triggering” and that discussing 9/11 is just a thinly disguised veneer for what is really a “politically motivated attack” on Omar. Ocasio-Cortez was referencing the New York Post’s recent front page. (RELATED: Omar Says People ‘Go After’ Her More Than The Hosts Of ‘Fox & Friends’)
Today’s cover of the New York Post. pic.twitter.com/09EYCAXTDe
— Josh Sternberg (@joshsternberg) April 11, 2019
She cited “the level to which conservative and Republican groups” will go “sending out emails, calling me and others domestic terrorists, or if it’s [Robert] Murdoch or the New York Post printings on the front page and to circulate all around New York City this image that is incredibly upsetting and triggering for New Yorkers.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks about Trump administration policies towards Muslim immigrants at a news conference by members of the U.S. Congress “to outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., Apr. 10, 2019. REUTERS/Jim Bourg
“As wild as it can get some times,” Ocasio-Cortez concluded to reporters, “this is something beyond normal.”