Marsha Blackburn calls on Ilhan Omar to resign over remark about dismantling systems of oppression

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican, called for the resignation of Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Democrat, over comments she made Tuesday about combating racial injustice.

Ms. Blackburn suggested Ms. Omar step down on Twitter, sharing an article published by the conservative-leaning website Daily Caller about the congresswoman’s recent comments.

“Ilhan Omar took an oath to defend and protect the Constitution, not shred it. Omar and her Marxist comrades are a threat to our Democracy. Omar should resign,” Ms. Blackburn tweeted along with a link to the Daily Caller article.

The article Ms. Blackburn shared on Twitter highlighted a remark that Ms. Omar made about systemic racism during a news conference held earlier Tuesday in her home district.

“We can’t stop at criminal justice reform or policing reform for that matter. We are not merely fighting to tear down the systems of oppression in the criminal justice system, we are fighting to tear down systems of oppression that exist in housing, in education, in healthcare, in employment, in the air we breathe,” Ms. Omar said in Minneapolis.

“As long as our economy and political systems prioritize profit without considering who is profiting, who is being shut out, we will perpetuate this inequality,” Ms. Omar said moments later. “So we cannot stop at [the] criminal justice system. We must begin the work of dismantling the whole system of oppression wherever we find it.”

The Daily Caller emphasized the latter remark in the article Ms. Blackburn later shared, headlined, “Ilhan Omar Calls For The ’Dismantling’ Of US Economy, Political System.”

A spokesperson for Ms. Omar did not immediately return a request for comment regarding the senator’s call for her to resign.

Ms. Omar, a Black former Somali refugee, made the remarks about racial inequality while discussing criminal justice reform with members of the Minnesota state legislature’s People of Color and Indigenous Caucus in St. Paul. She is among the more than 200 co-sponsors of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020, a federal criminal justice reform bill pending on Capitol Hill named for an unarmed Black man who was recently killed in police custody in her congressional district.