Not a subscriber yet? Become one today! You can subscribe for FREE to get most of my content delivered to your inbox. A PAID subscription is $6 a month or $60 a year and gets you access to ALL of my stuff and a bunch of other goodies too! Why subscribe? Because now more than ever you need an independent political journalist who isn’t owned by ANYONE. Support the journalism you want to see in the world!
On Tuesday night at an event in her district, Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar was sprayed with a substance shot out a syringe by a man who came at her.
The incident happens at about the 20-second mark of this C-SPAN video:
Omar was shaken but ultimately continued the event. The substance, which witnesses described as a having a vinegar-like smell, was not toxic.
When President Donald Trump got off of Air Force One — after delivering an “affordability” speech in Iowa — late Tuesday night, ABC’s Rachel Scott asked him about the episode.
“She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.”
What evidence did the president of the United States have for making such a bold claim? Oh, none. In fact, he repeatedly told Scott he hadn’t even seen the incident. (Sidebar: I very much doubt that.)
Just for a contrast, here’s how a normal Republican elected official — New York Rep. Mike Lawler — reacted to the Omar episode:
And, hell, even South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace — not typically a voice of rhetorical reason — understood the moment:
I know that Republicans will roll their eyes and say that’s just Trump being Trump or that this is the same old media freakout over nothing.
But that’s wrong. Because just hours before Trump suggested that the Omar spraying incident was a false flag operation, Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman put out new data from the U.S. Capitol Police on threats received by Members of Congress in 2025.
Almost 15,000 incidents in a single year! Up 57% from 2024. Consider than in 2017 — less than a decade ago! — there were less than 4,000 incidents.
So please don’t tell me that the president of the United States suggesting that a Member of Congress had concocted an attack on her — just hours after he had blasted her in a campaign speech — is just innocent fun. Or empty rhetoric without consequences.
Trump definitely doesn’t think twice about what comes out of his mouth. But the reality is that there is some bloc of people in the country who take him deadly serious. (Talk of the Omar incident as faked was everywhere among pro-MAGA voices on X this morning.) And a sliver of those people decide they need to act on the alleged perfidy of Trump’s opponents.
There is a cost to insisting over and over again that the people who disagree with you are evil. And with a president who seems oblivious or uncaring about that fact, the danger for our elected officials is only going to increase.
This is a FREE post. But journalism isn’t free. Which is why I hope today is the day you become a paid subscriber to this newsletter. It’s $6 a month or $60 for the year!
