Omar earns money online as controversy accumulates

Campaign financing

The young Democrat raised more than $ 832,000, mostly from online donors, after being criticized for using anti-Semitic tropes this winter.

According to a fundraising report filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission, donors of a small dollar rushed to defend the beleaguered representative Ilhan Omar (D-Min.) During the first three months of this year , while he was facing accusations of anti – Semitism on the part of prominent Democrats. .

Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota elected in 2018 and sworn in for the first time in early January, found himself mired in controversy shortly after arriving in Washington. The first member of the US-Somali Congress was widely reprimanded in February, including by her own party, after several high profile instances in which she had invoked anti-Semitic tropes regarding the support of US politicians for Israel.

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Omar raised $ 832,000 in the first quarter, according to his report from the FEC, among the best totals published by a Democrat in the House. About half of his donations, $ 415,000, came from people who donated less than $ 200 to Omar, and the majority of his funding, $ 631,000, came from online donors who donated via ActBlue, the collection platform. online democrat fund that has been such a great blessing to society. Party candidates in recent years as Republicans are struggling to develop an alternative.

When supporters sent money to Omar, frustrations within his own caucus escalated to compel President Nancy Pelosi and his MPs to intervene in a joint statement condemning Omar's comments in February, a reprimand extremely unusual party leaders.

Omar apologized, but was again accused of fueling anti-Semitic stereotypes a few weeks later. Now, she was directly targeted by President Donald Trump on Twitter, fueling an angry conservative reaction that, according to her allies, would have triggered an increased threat to her life.

Omar received just $ 10,000 from political action committees, including two other Democrats in the House: the first representative, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), gave Omar $ 2,000 on March 28 and the whip majority in the House, Jim Clyburn (south), at $ 1,000 on March 29.

Clyburn, Democratic Party No. 3, went on to defend Omar earlier this year, after several of his fellow Democrats drafted a bill formally condemning anti-Semitism, which would have named Omar by name.

The legislation was eventually expanded to condemn all forms of hate speech, to the frustration of some prominent Democrats who wanted to punish Omar.

His $ 832,000 run ranks him among the top fundraisers for House Democrats in the first quarter, beating nearly all Democratic nominees at the helm of a vulnerable district, including many fundraisers like the Representative. Josh Gottheimer (DN.J.), who raised $ 830,000 for his re-election campaign in the country. the expensive New York media market. First-year representative Josh Harder (D-Calif.), Who represents a dynamic district in central California, outclassed Omar with a $ 873,000 win.

Omar's campaign spent $ 241,000 and had $ 607,000 as of March 31.

Omar represents a Minneapolis-based Democratic district, which she won by a margin of 56 points. She succeeded Attorney General Keith Ellison in Congress, winning the Democratic nomination in a six-candidate primary with 48% of the vote.

In his first few months in Congress, Omar became a staple of the GOP's attack ads against Democrats, who focused on accusations of anti-Semitism and other cruel speeches.

Last week, the Democrat of Minnesota was the direct target of rhetorical attacks on President Donald Trump and other Republicans, accusing him of downplaying the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. She and her allies say that their comments – which the Republicans say have been taken out of context – have sparked a number of death threats against him.

Democratic presidential candidates stood up to defend themselves and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (California) said this week that the Capitol Police and the Sergeant-at-Arms in the House were working to " protect "Omar, his family and his staff. The Campaign Funding Report covers the activity only until the end of March.

The district of Omar – which runs through downtown Minneapolis – is strongly democrat. However, some party leaders have been looking for ways to challenge it in 2020, hoping to recruit a candidate to run for primary school.