ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — There are probably not two more polar opposite political figures in America than Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who is a candidate for U.S. Senate in Alabama.
While speaking to a gathering of Baldwin County Republicans on Saturday, Sessions talked about a back-and-forth dialogue between the two that played out over Twitter.
“I had a little dust-up with Ilhan Omar over the night,” he said. “I don’t know if y’all have seen it — it has kind of gone viral, our little exchange. But we said that she was wrong, we tweeted out that she was wrong — that we needed real police. We just didn’t need thought police. We should fund the police, and not the thought police. She popped me back. We popped her back.”
The exchange began when Sessions responded to a tweet from Omar calling for the disbanding of the Minneapolis Police Department in her hometown.
Omar responded by suggesting Sessions “sit this one out” given allegations that surfaced during his 1986 confirmation hearings for a judicial appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, which fell short.
Sessions responded by making mention of Omar’s controversial remarks on the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and claims she celebrated antisemitism. Then he followed up with a question about Omar’s brother, who was part of an FBI investigation into his immigration status, and claims Omar married her brother to aid the immigration process.
Omar replied that her brother was “not so well,” claiming he was struggling with systemic racism.
Sessions faces former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville on July 14 in a Republican primary runoff for the opportunity to compete against incumbent Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL), who now occupies the U.S. Senate seat Sessions held for 20 years before serving as U.S. Attorney General.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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