Rep. Ilhan Omar Swarmed By Supporters Chanting ‘Welcome Home’ At Minnesota Airport

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar was greeted by a crowd of supporters when she arrived at a Minnesota airport on Thursday, and it couldn’t have been a more welcome contrast to what the country saw at Donald Trump’s disturbing rally the night before in North Carolina.

Read: Kristi Noem Is Banned From 20% of South Dakota.

When she walked through the doors, the group started chanting, “Welcome home, Ilhan.”

Video:

Rep. Omar shared the video on her own Twitter page on Thursday, saying, “It’s good to be home.”

The warm welcome comes after the Democratic congresswoman responded Thursday to the racism spewed by Trump and his supporters in North Carolina when they chanted “send her back.”

“I want to remind people that this is what this president and his supporters have turned our country [into] that is supposed to be a country where we allow democratic debate and dissent to take place,” Omar said, according to The Hill.  “This is not about me; this is about us fighting for what this country truly should be and what it deserves to be.”

Trump overplayed his racist hand

Donald Trump thought it was a smart political play to demonize four congresswomen of color and paint them as the scary “other,” but he overplayed his racist hand.

Sure, his bigotry might have played well at Wednesday night’s modern reenactment of a Klan rally, but it has monumentally backfired in two major ways.

First, Trump has reminded the country that he is a blatant and proud racist. Anyone who continues to stand by him – particularly after the past week – has to own that either they are racist or that they are okay supporting one.

Second, Americans have rushed to support the four members of Congress after Trump told them to “go back” to their countries, even though three of them were born in the United States and Rep. Ilhan Omar became a citizen when she was a teenager.

Some Americans might not agree with the “Squad,” but the vast majority of the country recognizes that they belong here as much as any other citizen.

The spontaneous demonstration at a Minnesota airport on Thursday to welcome Rep. Ilhan Omar was just as much a show of support for the congresswoman as it was a rebuke of Donald Trump.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.