‘Donald Trump not inciting violence against lawmaker’

The top Democrat in the US Congress ordered a safety review for a Muslim lawmaker and her family Sunday after accusing President Donald Trump of putting her in danger by tweeting a video of her spliced with footage of the 9/11 attacks.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took time out from an official trip to issue a strong statement urging Trump to remove the clip featuring Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar. "Following the president’s tweet, I spoke with the sergeant-at-arms to ensure that Capitol Police are conducting a security assessment to safeguard Congresswoman Omar, her family and her staff," she said.

"The president’s words weigh a ton, and his hateful and inflammatory rhetoric creates real danger. President Trump must take down his disrespectful and dangerous video." Trump’s spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, meanwhile, defended the president on Sunday against accusations that he was inciting violence toward Omar.

Omar has been at the center of an escalating row after a clip emerged of her characterising the deadliest attack on US soil as "some people did something." On Friday, Trump tweeted a video that juxtaposed the snippet -- which Omar’s fellow Democrats say was taken out of context -- with images of the hijacked planes used in the attacks crashing into the World Trade Centre’s twin towers that once dominated New York’s skyline. Menacing music accompanies Omar’s words.

The clip, which had been viewed more than 9.4 million times as of Sunday afternoon, ends with the words: "September 11 2001 we remember". Omar said in a statement posted on Twitter on Sunday that many of the increased threats she had received were "directly referencing or replying to the President’s video".

"Violent crimes and other acts of hate by right-wing extremists and white nationalists are on the rise in this country and around the world," she said. "We can no longer ignore that they are being encouraged by the occupant of the highest office in the land." "We are all Americans. This is endangering lives. It has to stop."

Prominent Democrats including Beto O’Rourke, Kamala Harris and Omar’s fellow first-time Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were quick to rush to Omar’s defence, accusing the president and other Republicans of deliberately de-contextualising her remarks and endangering her life.

Sanders, however, defended Trump, telling ABC television’s "This Week" that "the president is wishing no ill will and certainly not violence towards anyone." But, she added: "It’s absolutely abhorrent the comments she continues to make and has made and Democrats look the other way.