AP FACT CHECK:Trump team warps Omar words on 9/11, al Qaida

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump attributed statements to a Democratic congresswoman that she didn't make as he set off an incendiary week of vilification with accusations that she and three other lawmakers of color hate America. One of his top White House advisers, Stephen Miller, reinforced the charges Sunday, pointing to their remarks about terrorism and Trump's handling of border policy and saying the lawmakers "detest America as it exists." The comments have roiled the capital and excited Trump's North Carolina rally , overshadowing distortions in rhetoric that came from many quarters and from both parties on a variety of matters over the last week-plus — the Democratic presidential campaign among them.
A look at the claims and reality: LOVING AMERICA MILLER, on Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.: "You saw the quotes from Representative Omar saying some people did something at 9/11. And yes, if you watch it in context, it's worse." — interview on "Fox News Sunday." TRUMP: "When she talked about the World Trade Center being knocked down, 'some people.' You remember the famous 'some people.' These are people that, in my opinion, hate our country." — remarks on July 15 at a manufacturing event. 

THE FACTS: It's true that plenty of critics thought Omar sounded dismissive about the 2001 terrorist attacks in a comment in a speech in March . Those remarks, though, did not express love "for enemies like al-Qaida," as Trump put it, or any proof of hatred or detesting America. Speaking to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Omar said the group "was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties." Her phrasing — "some people did something" — struck many people as a tone-deaf way to refer to the catastrophic attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The American-Islamic group actually was founded in 1994, according to its website. Its membership skyrocketed after the 2001 attacks. In the speech, Omar said many Muslims saw their civil liberties eroded after the attacks, and she advocated for activism. "For far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen and, frankly, I'm tired of it, and every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it," she said.

But she also noted that "what we know, and what Islam teaches us, and what I always say, is that love trumps hate." After being criticized for her remarks, Omar noted that President George W. Bush had stood at Ground Zero days after the attacks and also referred somewhat generically to "the people who knocked these buildings down," while vowing they "will hear all of us soon." Trump is continuing to assail Omar and three other liberal Democratic women of color, challenging their loyalty to the U.S. They are Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. The House rebuked him Tuesday for his "racist comments" after he said they should "go back" to their countries. All four are Americans; Omar was born in Somalia; the others in the U.S. Omar said Trump is a "fascist" and she and the other women he's going after will "continue to be a nightmare to this president because his policies are a nightmare to us." ___ TRUMP quotes Omar as saying: "You don't say 'America' with this intensity. You say 'al-Qaida,' it makes you proud. Al-Qaida makes you proud. You don't speak that way about America." — North Carolina rally on Wednesday. TRUMP: "I hear the way she talks about al-Qaida. Al-Qaida has killed many Americans. She said, 'You can hold your chest out, you can — when I think of America — uhh — when I think of al-Qaida, I can hold my chest out.'" — remarks Monday at a manufacturing event at the White House. 

THE FACTS: This is a wholly distorted account of what the Omar said. She did not voice pride in the terrorist group. Trump is referring to an interview Omar gave in 2013. In it, she talked about studying terrorism history or theory under a professor who dramatically pronounced the names of terrorist groups, as if to emphasize their evil nature. "The thing that was interesting in the class was every time the professor said 'al-Qaida,' he sort of like — his shoulders went up" and he used a menacing, intense tone, she said. Her point was that the professor was subtly rousing suspicions of Muslims with his theatrical presentation, while pronouncing "America" without the intensity he afforded the names of terrorist groups. At no point did she say "al-Qaida" should be uttered with intensity or pride and that "America" shouldn't. 

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