On Saturday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Weekends with Alex Witt,” Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) reacted to the criticisms Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) made of President Obama by stating she is “almost relieved. Because it looks like she is an equal opportunity critic.”
Norton said, “I’m almost relieved. Because it looks like she is an equal opportunity critic. And, I tell you, I think the product of social media. You know, when freshman — when I was a freshman and came to the Congress, they said that freshman bided their time. Perhaps they had to, there was no social media, you could only go to the floor to speak. So, she is used to speaking her mind, and she speaks her mind, apparently, from the far left, against Democrats, as well as Republicans. It was far more serious, of course, when she engaged in antisemitism. But I’m sure when people hear her now, they are probably not — they are probably writing her off as someone who’s young and inexperienced and doesn’t understand how you’re supposed to behave when you’re a member of Congress. I think, in terms of her speaking her mind, that’s what free speech is all about.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett