Ilhan Omar Tells Democrats To Ignore ‘Disaffected Trump Voters’ And Focus On Nonvoters

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minn.) spoke out on Friday to tell Democrats that going into this election, they should focus on nonvoters instead of wasting their energy on “disaffected Trump voters.”

Omar Sends Message To Democrats

“I get the urge to focus on disaffected Trump voters. Democrats pride themselves on being a big-tent party. We want to show disaffected Republicans that there’s a political home for them outside Trump’s GOP,” Omar wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. “But appealing to these voters while alienating more progressive, diverse nonvoters doesn’t make sense.”

“For every moderate, suburban Republican on the fence about Trump, there are lines of cooks, homeworkers, dishwashers, cashiers and farm workers who would vote a straight Democratic ticket if they were just given a reason to do so,” she added.

Omar went on to point out that Trump won in 2016 “because he increased Republican turnout in the Midwest while we Democrats didn’t.”

“That’s why adopting policies and finding candidates who speak to the needs of working people isn’t just the right thing to do, it is critical for our party’s long-term success,” she said.

Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden have been trying to win over moderate suburban voters in swing states, according to The Hill. Omar claimed in her op-ed that low-income voters are a largely untapped voting bloc that could greatly help Democrats if they embrace left-leaning policies.

Over the past few weeks, Democrats have been showcasing Republicans who have endorsed Biden, including ormer Trump administration officials and alumni of the George W. Bush administration. Many of these people spoke at the Democratic National Convention, and groups such as the Lincoln Project and Republican Voters Against Trump have been running pro-Biden ads.

Omar Calls Trump ‘Racist’

This comes days after Omar branded Trump as “racist” after he attacked her during a campaign rally earlier in the week.

“She’s telling us how to run our country. How did you do where you came from? How is your country doing?” Trump had said.

This did not sit well with Omar.

“The President clearly loves to prey on people’s fears. He spreads the disease of hate everywhere he goes, and these cult rallies that he’s holding across the country are now being fueled by fear, and it is no surprise that he is so fearful of winning Minnesota that he has to resort to this hate,” Omar told CNN.

“Not only is he a racist, but he’s a racist xenophobic. Because he’s not against immigration, he’s just against immigrants who look like me,” she added.

This piece was written by James Samson on September 25, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.