The Jefferson County Republican Party shared a deceptive video clip of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN5) that had been edited to make it appear as though she endorsed the “profiling & monitoring…of white men.” The party wrote that her words were “extremely racist” and asserted that “white men are not radical.”
Comments on the post included multiple racist remarks and threats of violence, some of which were removed by the JeffCo GOP after being alerted to them by the Colorado Times Recorder.
In another post a few hours later, the JeffCo GOP quoted from the edited segment, saying the party “is disgusted with the hate-filled interview Congresswoman Ilhan Omar gave during a recent interview.”
The edited video clip of January 2018 interview Omar gave to Al Jazeera made the rounds on conservative social media after it was reposted by the Christian Broadcasting Network. Once Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) tweeted it, the video spread rapidly. The 40-second clip has been edited to remove a portion of Omar’s statement that creates a conditional assertion. As reported by The Hill:
The missing segment in the edited clip cuts out Omar saying, “So if fear was the driving force of policies to keep America safe, Americans safe inside of this country,” in reference to how she feels over fear of “jihadist terrorism.”
Similarly, the Washington Post reported that Rubio was “duped by a misleading tweet and video.”
Informed that the video had been edited to change the meaning of Rep. Omar’s words, the JeffCo GOP Facebook page administrator responded, “The fact remains, her statements were made.” The party declined to take down the post itself.
Comments on the two posts included implicit death threats and overtly racist statements.
“This is what happens when your genitals are mutulated [sic],” wrote one commenter.
Two commenters made potentially threatening statements writing “her comments belong on her tombstone…” and “patience, she will get what will. Blow up in her face$!!!”
Asked specifically about the comments referencing “her tombstone” and “genital mutilation,” the JeffCo GOP deleted them immediately, replying:
Those comments on the post do cross the line and have been removed, in addition to some others that were automatically addressed by our settings. We monitor our page’s comments and hadn’t gotten to seeing those yet.
Jefferson County Republican Party Facebook page administrator
The party did not delete a comment from one of the page’s “Top Fans,” who wrote: “She needs to leave the country. White men got here first! We win! You leave, Omar!”
