Monday September 14, 2020
By Marina Fang
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
The president has long denigrated refugees and spread Islamophobia, including by attacking Rep. Ilhan Omar.
President Donald Trump retweeted a post on Monday about “radicalized” Somalis in Minnesota, continuing a history of denigrating refugees and spreading Islamophobia.
Trump responded to the tweet by claiming he is “helping Minnesota greatly” and blaming his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, and former President Barack Obama for a “Minnesota disaster.”
The Minneapolis area is home to a large population of Somali refugees. During a rally in Minneapolis last fall, the president’s supporters booed when he decried the “large numbers of refugees to your state from Somalia.” He also called Omar a “disgrace” and a “fraud.”
I am helping Minnesota greatly. OBiden was a Minnesota disaster! https://t.co/jY5UR64vkf
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2020
Last summer, Trump supporters at a rally in North Carolina chanted “send her back,” egged on by Trump, who has repeatedly used xenophobia to attack Omar and other women of color.
On Friday, both Trump and Biden are set to campaign in Minnesota, which former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won by about 45,000 votes in 2016. While Biden leads in major polls, the Trump campaign is treating the state as a potential battleground.