Appearing Friday on the Fox News Channel’s The Five, guest panelist Geraldo Rivera defended Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for downplaying the terror attacks of September 11th, 2001, claiming the freshman congresswoman doesn’t have the “language” to adequately express herself about the tragedy.
A partial transcript is as follows:
JESSE WATTERS: [Omar] was very dismissive about 9/11, and a lot of people take that very seriously. Especially the newspaper in Manhattan, and if any newspaper is going to put that on the front page, I think the New York Post has complete license to do that. What I don’t like is that she never really acknowledges what she says once she’s attacked. She says you’re only attacking me because of my identity, not what I actually said. That’s like playing sports and they’re always complaining to the ref. You know, they’re getting dominated play, after play, after play, and they’re also whing to the referee. She just does not have the talent, I don’t think, to stand in the ring and fight.
GERALDO RIVERA: This is not whining. She’s being attacked. This is an existential threat. She’s getting death threats on a daily basis.
WATTERS: What’s an existential threat?
RIVERA: She’s getting death threats on a daily basis. […] I’m a New Yorker. I understand you speak with solemn hush tones when you talk about 9/11. I lost friends and neighbors on 9/11. I get it. It is awful. 343 firefighters, 71 cops. i get it. It’s a mass murder, mass grave downtown. She doesn’t have the glibness, the language of a veteran that knows this is the proper response when you talk about as horrific as, as dramatic as 9/11.