Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Presses Ilhan Omar About Her Behavior During Trump’s State Of The Union

[Screenshot/CNN]

CNN host Wolf Blitzer repeatedly asked Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar on Wednesday if she disobeyed her party’s leadership by shouting at President Donald Trump during Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

Omar and Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib shouted at Trump after he shamed them for not expressing their support for U.S. citizens over illegal aliens. The congresswoman claimed on “The Situation Room” that her behavior was “unavoidable” because she needed to remind Trump that two of her constituents died at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“No, I think it was really unavoidable. The president talked about protecting Americans and I just had to remind him that his administration was responsible for killing two of my constituents,” Omar said. 

“Many members of your Democratic Party criticized their Republican counterparts when they interrupted President Biden’s State of the Union Address. As a lot of us remember, do you have any regrets at all about the interaction we played between you and President Trump just last night?” Blitzer asked. 

Omar’s shouting defied House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ orders for his caucus to either sit in “silent defiance” or boycott the speech altogether. At the  beginning of the speech, Democratic Texas Rep. Al Green walked around the House floor with a sign that read, “BLACK PEOPLE AREN’T APES.”

“I do not. And I think many people look at that moment when the president says it is our responsibility to protect Americans and he does not acknowledge that two of my constituents, two of our neighbors, were killed,” Omar replied. 

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Democrats condemned Republican Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert and former Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for heckling former President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in 2022. Boebert accused Biden during the speech of being responsible for the deaths of 13 U.S. service members in Afghanistan, while Greene chanted, “Build that wall!”

Democrats were also outraged when Republicans South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson yelled “you lie” during former President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address in 2009.

Greene also broke the House rules in 2024 by wearing MAGA attire at Biden’s final State of the Union address.

Unrest ensued throughout Minneapolis following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were both shot by immigration enforcement in January. An ICE agent shot Good on Jan. 7 after she hit him with her vehicle and caused him to suffer from internal bleeding. Footage released on Jan. 28 showed Pretti spitting at federal immigration enforcement and breaking the tail light of their vehicle just 11 days before Border Patrol agents shot him at a different protest.

During the address on Tuesday, Trump asked any congressperson to stand up if they agreed with the statement, “The duty of the American government is to protect Americans citizens, not illegal aliens.” He rebuked the Democratic members for remaining seated and not supporting the removal of dangerous criminals, which prompted Omar to shout that Trump himself was a criminal.