Ilhan Omar Under Fire After Blaming Trump for Death of Baby Who Didn't Die
Relying on The New York Times to smear President Donald Trump is bad enough.
Relying on The New York Times to smear the president without even bothering to read the article is even worse.
But doing both, then advertising your malicious ignorance on a Twitter account with more than a half-million followers, might be worst of all.
And that’s exactly what Democratic darling Rep. Ilhan Omar did with a Twitter post Thursday morning that blamed the Trump administration’s health care policies for the death of a 9-month old.
Fortunately for everyone but Omar – or her crack public information staff — that baby boy isn’t dead at all.
“A nine month old died as a direct result of Trump’s cuts to Medicaid and CHIP,” Omar tweeted.
“He is one of a million children to lose healthcare.
“Let that sink in.”
A nine month old died as a direct result of Trump’s cuts to Medicaid and CHIP.
He is one of a million children to lose healthcare.
Let that sink in. https://t.co/U4q8uXksKZ
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) October 24, 2019
As the eagle-eyed Twitter watchers at Twitchy pointed out, The New York Times article Omar linked to never said the child in question had died.
He was treated at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, even though he wasn’t covered by insurance.
What the article did say, though in a convoluted way, is that the reason the boy was not covered by Medicaid had nothing to do with “Trump’s cuts to Medicaid and CHIP” as Rep. Omar claimed.
He would have been eligible for Medicaid coverage, The Times reported. He was not covered because apparently his mother didn’t do the paperwork on time.
“Trying to re-enroll her older children earlier this year, she was asked for proof of income and missed the 10-day window to provide it; that may be why Texas dropped Elijah from Medicaid even though he qualified because he was a baby,” The Times reported.
Now the boy is not only alive, but he’s enrolled for health care coverage, as are his two siblings. And Ilhan Omar’s tweet is drawing some well-deserved social media scorn.
Y’all should probably read the article. The baby isn’t dead. He was admitted and treated at Texas Children’s hospital. They weren’t enrolled because mom didn’t finish the proper paperwork. They are all enrolled now. ?
— Tracie (@tdoyal727) October 24, 2019
You are lying once more.
— Lyla Joy Rose (@LylajoyRose) October 24, 2019
Learn to read!
— Michele Ray Williams (@Beingsixtyish) October 24, 2019
This tweet didn’t go as planned, let that sink in.
— Frank (@frank_rvzoo) October 24, 2019
Almost two hours after her initial tweet, Omar tweeted a two-word correction. “Almost died*,” she wrote.
almost died*
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) October 24, 2019
For all liberals complain about Fox News, there’s not a mainstream news outlet in the country that confirms the worldview of the majority of its customers the way The New York Times does.
As regular readers know, political liberalism bleeds its way into literally every section of the paper but the crossword puzzle.
It’s been the Democratic Party’s house organ for decades, of course, but its institutional hatred for Trump has made it even more unreliable than it used to be. (And its reliance on subscribers in the digital age means the “newspaper of record” isn’t above changing its own print edition headlines to attack Trump if its liberal base decides the president is getting off too easy.)
That lack of credibility makes it risky for any elected official with actual responsibilities to rely too heavily on the “Gray Lady.” For someone like Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar – one of the more unstable members of Congress even in an unstable Democratic caucus – it’s downright dangerous.
But in this case, for Omar, the only thing worse than reading The New York Times to try to smear Trump is not reading The New York Times to try to smear Trump.
No, this tweet didn’t go as planned at all.
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