Danielle Stella, a Republican seeking to unseat Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Democrat, was suspended from Twitter after her account posted Tuesday about killing the congresswoman.
Ms. Stella’s campaign account on Twitter, @2020MNCongress, was punted from the platform after posting at least twice about hanging Ms. Omar, a progressive freshman frequently the target of right-wing attacks.
Each tweet involved an accusation recently amplified by Ms. Omar’s opponents that alleges she passed sensitive information to Iran — a claim the congresswoman has since rejected as “outlandishly absurd.”
“If it is proven @IlhanMN passed sensitive info to Iran, she should be tried for #treason and hanged,” Ms. Stella’s campaign account said in the first tweet.
Ms. Stella’s campaign account subsequently tweeted the link to an article that aggregated her remark, accompanied by a crude depiction of a stick figure hanging from gallows.
The account has since been permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter’s rules, a Twitter spokesperson told The Washington Times on Wednesday.
“My suspension for advocating for the enforcement of federal code proves Twitter will always side with and fight to protect terrorists, traitors, pedophiles and rapists,” Ms. Stella told The Times when reached for comment.
Reacting on Twitter late Tuesday to the accusation spread by Ms. Stella and others, Ms. Omar said it was among the “misinformation and conspiracy theories” that have been regular for the congresswoman since taking office.
“The stories keep getting outlandishly absurd, and this latest one is no exception!” Ms. Omar tweeted. “People often ask me why I don’t fight back against them often. It’s a valid question, one my team, family and I struggle with. There is just too much, they are too ridiculous and it feel degrading to respond to such stupidity.”
“Also, who has time fact checking this insanity,” Ms. Omar tweeted.
At least five candidates, including Ms. Stella, are currently seeking the Republican nomination to run in 2020 against Ms. Omar. The state’s GOP primary election is set for Aug. 11.
Note: An earlier version of this article reported that Ms. Stella’s tweet suggested “lynching” Ms. Omar, which has been defined as executing a person with or without trial but typically the latter. She suggested the congresswoman should be put and trial and then potentially executed, so the article has been revised to more accurately reflect her tweet.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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