Politics

Trump Says He Was ‘Not Happy’ With Rally Crowd Chanting ‘Send Her Back’ About Rep. Ilhan Omar

CNN

Amber Athey Podcast Columnist
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President Donald Trump disavowed the “send her back” chant started by his supporters at a North Carolina rally on Wednesday night, telling reporters he was “not happy” about the incident.

The president said in the Oval Office on Thursday that he tried to keep speaking “quickly” during the rally to end the chant, which was directed at Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar. (RELATED: ‘Send Her Back’ — Trump Crowd Has Its Own Idea About What To Do With Ilhan Omar)

I wasn’t happy with that message they gave last night,” the president said. “ I was not happy with it. I disagree with it. But again, I didn’t say — I didn’t say that, they did.”

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“It was quite a chant. And I felt a little bit badly about it,” he asserted, adding that he would try to stop the chant if it happened again.

Supporters started the chant after Trump listed a number of statements by Omar that he considers to be anti-American or anti-Semitic. He previously told Omar, who is an American citizen and a refugee from Somalia, to return to where she came from if she does not like the United States.

Critics called the chant “racist,” and a number of Republicans have publicly disavowed what happened at the rally. Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed the chant put Omar in “danger.”