Rep. Ilhan Omar blasted “fake news stories” and those trafficking in “anti-Muslim smears” on Thursday — hours after a report was published claiming that she married her brother.
“The same people who chastise the progressive movement regularly traffic in anti-Muslim smears and hate speech against me and those I represent,” the Minnesota Democrat tweeted.
“It’s almost as if they don’t genuinely care about online harassment.”
The 38-year-old congresswoman was responding to tweets from “The View” co-host Meghan McCain, including one from Wednesday that criticized Sen. Bernie Sanders and his “army of Bernie bro’s” for misogynistic online attacks.
The other was a screengrab in which McCain shared another tweet accusing Omar of marrying her brother and wrote: “How is this not a bigger deal?”
“Paying people to generate fake news stories in order to delegitimize me and those I represent isn’t a good look,” Omar wrote. “Desperation is a sad mobilizing tool.”
The statement came hours after the Daily Mail published a story in which a Minnesota man named Abdihakim Osman — who claimed to have ties to Omar — said she married her brother to help him gain citizenship to the United States.
The Post reported in January that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was reviewing the claims.
Omar has repeatedly denied the allegations, calling them “disgusting lies.”