Of minnesotas fifth congressional district. Congresswoman, thanks for coming on the podcast. Ms. Omar so great to be here with you, jonathan. Jam last wek talk, which was yesterday, on msnbc i asked you for your reactions saying the words of president elect to biden. Your response to me correctly i would love for you to expand on this, you said it will be great for you to not have to explain to your daughter by the president of the United States is saying mean things about you. down to her american identity and so you know i have had many long days, many nights having to explain to my youngest child, who is now eight, my two older ones you know sort of contextualize what is taking place in the political discourse in this country but for her its really challenging for this to actually happen. You know i think for a lot of our kids they hear about a president and they hear about someone they are supposed to look up to and be a leader and there is a lot of facts from the presidency that he tries to instill in them and for someone who has tried to denigrate that as a present in her formative years are really challenging. Its one thing to have someone attack your community writ large. Its another thing when that someone is the president of the United States and he is directly attacking you by name personally how has that felt . On a personal level i have gotten accustomed to standing up to the leafs in my life so on a personal level it hasnt impacted me besides having my children be exposed to it and for the last two months of this election cycle waking up every single morning to Text Messages from my siblings asking if i was saved to coast he chose to speak about me and every single rally. It didnt really matter where he was. Sometimes it was multiple times in a day as he held his rallies throughout the country and you know i thought a lot about in the last two years wiped that attack on me has meant for the people who see themselves in may, whether it is muslim, whether it is black women, whether it is immigrants, refugees, people who are leaders in our country many who want to live in an Inclusive Society and want to be part of creating progress for our country and its really something to analyze and to understand and to reckon with because as i said when i first came to the United States i remember getting a letter of recognition from thenpresident clinton and i remember reading this letter and i wrote about it in my look. My father was really proud of the letter. At the time i didnt really care much about who was president but to my father it was an acceptance of our existence in this country. It was sort of another welcoming letter. You get a welcoming letter when you arrive here as a refugee and you know that is what a president is supposed to be, a representative of us. They are a leader of the nation. They are supposed to make everybody feel as if they are the president and to have for years of a president who has occupied the white house who has not seen himself as a leader of all of the people in this country who has not extended a welcoming hand to every Single Person is you know, really sad and disheartening. The day that it was announced that he lost the election by tweeted to my now deceased father who passed away because of covid complications that the president did not really even acknowledge that we he will no longer be president of the United States and the country he loved will hopefully come back to it being a beacon of hope and an inclusive country that understands that there is strength in our diversity and that there are better days ahead of us. Congresswoman condolences on the passing of your father. The attacks from the president on you to rackley and personally and specifically also has to do with his reelection strategy not only ginning up the base around the country but harder part of his plan to win minnesota which he very narrowly lost in 2016, it didnt work. One could say that it didnt work because minnesota is traditionally a Democratic State but do you think that the attack on you backfired . It did and not just attacks on me, a tax on every Single Person in this country backfired. Black women who have been subject to his vitriol, have shown up en masse numbers to refute this presidency and to change course in this country. Young people have shown up in mass numbers to say we want a future that is brighter than what you have brought. England, people who just got their citizenship showed up and said this is going to be an inclusive country and a place for all of us and we are going to be part of the process of creating that. And minnesotans by and large showed up in numbers that they had not for presidency in a long time to say you are not going to use our state to spread your message of hate and division in this country. We are not only going to not elect you, we are going to show the country what it means to stand up to a bully like you. Congresswoman President Trump lost minnesota but when it comes to the house of representatives republicans, democrats didnt win the seats that they thought they were going to win and in fact republicans ended up gaining seats and still we will find out next month whether republicans retain control of the senate but why do you think that is that even though president elect joe biden won the popular vote, it at last count by more than 5 million votes than President Trump why dont you think president elect biden and the d emdemocrats had coattails to go from winning the white house to expanding the democratic majority in the house . Rep. Omar you know, elections are nuanced. In minnesota, we have a tradition of people splitting their ballots, not just in minnesota, but throughout the country. With their ballots and we have seen it happen not only minnesota but throughout the country and i also think in many cases there was so much focus especially from me. I didnt talk to a certain person about my election i was so focused on defeating trump and making sure biden one. We made 1. 4 million attempts in initiating our constituents and thats why we ended up having one of the highest turnouts in our district. I think for a lot of my colleagues who lost they expressed how there was a lot of concentration whether it was the volunteers, the nations attention was on sending trump packing and for a lot of us that in itself was the victory that we were after. I will say campaigning during a pandemic really wasnt something that a lot of people were prepared for. I had to fight to establish hiring at canvassing team and go out door knocking in minnesota. I know a lot of my colleagues did not do that and so there are a lot of challenges that happen when you are not having that oneonone facetoface conversation with constituents when republicans continued to expand their ground game and democrats did not. One of the things that came up as an infamous caucus vote call after the election where apparently was very needed one of the things that your congressional colleague new york congresswoman Ocasio Cortes said in the news york times and other places that hammering home the fact that democrats are way behind when it comes to digital campaigns and having an on line presence. Just wondering your take on that and the rejoinder that came from congresswoman wathen of michigan and the political profile that i read where she says and im going to redo this quote i think shes better informed speaking about her own district. Maybe more than 9 of her district is on twitter but thats about how much of mine is on twitter and she goes on to say she had a robust Digital Program but id like to see the video screen ads. Those were a big part of what we invested in because my voters especially during covid were still going to get it. Im bringing all of this up because im wondering this rift that appears to be there and that is there between the progressive wing of which you are strongly identified and the socalled moderate wing of the party are in conflict, are at loggerheads. Are we making too much of this or is the Democratic Caucus really in danger of possibly in 2022 losing the majority in the house . I think its important for people to have fluency in the people they choose to represent whether its challenges are the best ways to engage with them. Some people will focus on constituent services. Its important which we all understand how available that is to serve in your constituency but when youre running for reelection are running for the first time utilizing every mode of communication is essential to winning your election and the thing that alexandria Ocasio Cortes and myself and rashida understood while we ran our primaries we were all challenged in the primaries is that during covid you had to utilize Digital Strategy and aggressive Digital Strategy in order to get your message out to your constituents. And thats needs to also be part of the work that you do Going Forward while you serve as well and i think you know what slotkin is saying is something that weve been saying. We understand that the Democratic Caucus is a bit tense. We understand that there are differences in the different constituents that we serve. Our party is weak in that regard. We are not monolithic in the constituents that we have in the demographics of those constituents but we are also a party that says we are party of the people so prioritizing the needs of people is something that we need to be unified and whether its talking about how to address the economic that people have dealt with for decades or whether it is sending out a cohesive message that speaks to who we are as a caucus. What we are asking our colleagues to do is to continue to have that conversation because when we are not having conversations with the people and we are having conversations about our divisions than republicans win. I was going to ask, im wondering is that the message, is the motive the message and is that the problem for the democrats and the Democratic Party or is it the message itself . Do you think the reason why democrats did not gain the seeds that i wanted to and some democratic members of congress were not reelected was because they are constituents of voters didnt like the message, didnt like the policies that they were running on. Yes, i mean the responsibility is on the candidates themselves to figure out what messages work and to communicate with the people they are seeking to represent. Obviously we have a message as democrats about what it means to address the needs of the American People and tailoring that message to the constituents in the way that it is best suitable is something that you only understand as it candidates who is running in that district and when you fall short of that, that falls on you. It doesnt fall on the candidates thats running across the country for a seat and messaging to the constituency. And so our challenge is figuring out how do we run a 21st Century Campaign and that is not only a problem but figuring out how you are going to be in front of people getting your message to them and whether its doorknocking are using digital ads were being on tv. Different things work. I have never imagined that i read run tv ads but i had to run tv ads and thats about adapting in understanding what is it going to take for you to win and for someone who has 17 million to spend against them by democrats and republicans i am here because i figured out how to have a better way to engage with my constituents in both of my elections the primary and the general. Are there areas and im sorry to keep harping on this rift between the progressive wing in the moderate wing but welcome to washington. This rift is basically from the media and the pundits and republicans. Generally is a big family we have our debates and discussions but their riff isnt as strong as its made out to be. And i take your point because as i was listening and as he talks about this nuance that candidates depending on their district need to employ while running for reelection that sounded eminently reasonable and sitting here trying to understand well what is it . In my making a riff so we will just leave that aside. I see this as a last point to that risk. I think oftentimes when people feel challenged. I remember getting a primary challenger, i could blame every Single Person on the democratic side who has attacked me since coming to congress and say thats why havent democratic primary challenger. I could blame the colleagues who donated to my primary opponent and i could blame the governor who deleted my primary opponent or our kids say this is a challenge and i need to overcome because its not good for my psyche. Im better at thinking about how to provide a positive message to my constituents so that i can bring them back and win this election and i think about the different ads that i have seen for either slotkin or abigail frankferter or even connor went and i think these ads had a lot to do about your history prior to coming to congress. It had a lot to do with the fact that he chose to go take pictures with people who had defund the police signs. It had a lot to do with the way in which you have conducted yourself in the shortcomings that you have and so you can continue to blame people across the country for serving their constituents or you can say i have overcome all of these challenges and i won my election and now lets figure out how everyone can overcome their challenges and win their elections because thats the place to work from and im always looking at how do we positively move forward instead of looking back and thinking about what we can try to get stuck on and not allow ourselves to be in a position to better serve our constituency. Since you brought up congresswoman spanberger as reported on the call was angry, very angry about the impact of quote defund the police but also the use of the word socialism within the party. Does she not have a point on that, the negative impact that those two things had undemocratic races around the country . I have not seen a single analysis to point to that is something that had an impact. If you look at the ads that were run against her it had to do with the school she was teaching in saudi arabia that was supposed to be a terrorist hot spot or Something Like that. You look across the country where they were using their votes with pelosi against them. You think about the two senate races right now in georgia. Its about schumer and something that he said about changing our country and changing the world. There are so many lies and smears that republicans engaged in that have had an impact on races and to blame a movement that has shown up for us in a more aggressive way to deliver a decisive victory for Vice President elect biden is really shameful and something that i cant even believe my democratic colleagues are doing. Lets talk about your district. What are your priorities for your constituents and minnesotas Fifth District in your next term . Our priorities are one, trying to figure out how do we help president biden, the biden and harris administration. Minnesota is experiencing a surge in its currently dealing with the impact of this pandemic in a serious personal way. Figuring out how do we bring our country back from the grip of financial crisis, dealing with the looming eviction crisis that they have in the housing crisis that preceded this pandemic, canceling student debt, dealing with the Climate Crisis that we have and figuring out someone who recognizes health care, how do we make sure as americans we have access to health care. This conversation is so great and we are actually running out of time. I have two questions i need to ask you before we go. You are on the Foreign Affairs committee and im wondering how do you balance the desire to talk about israel and palestine and open debate in this country about our support for israel with the very real sensitivities of people in mind . As we deal with the country of israel and its continued place in the middle east and its impacts on our foreign policy, it needs to be a conversation that we have on a policy level and trying to really adapt how we talk about a conflict that doesnt really include two parties that are operating on an equal footing. We dont have a full recognition for statehood for palestinians where there is a need for us to advocate for human rights, to abdicate for the rights of people and how do we continue to have a conversation on statehood for people who have experienced injustice for so long. You know Vice President elect harris has broken through a ton of barriers, a ton of glass ceilings just by being elected Vice President elect of the United States. Shes the first woman. Shes the first person of color to be Vice President in the first black woman or south asian woman. Im just wondering if you could take a step back and just talk about what it means to have the incoming Vice President of the United States be a person of color, be someone who we can look at and see your reflection. Shes also the first daughter of immigrants to ascend to the vice presidency. We watched her come on stage and my daughter who is eight her response what she looks like me mama and theres this famous quote that we constantly repeat you cant do what you cant see and for so many of our daughters they are going to get an opportunity to see themselves in that position and to know that there is no limitation on their ability to ascend to a powerful position like that is something that is beautiful. You know ive always said presentation matters in a Representative Democracy and the kind of representation that has this ability in itself is something that we can quantify. Congresswoman ilhan omar from the great state of minnesota thank you very much for coming on the podcast. And also for coming on Washington Post live. Have a great day. A few. And thank you for turning into Washington Post live. Guess coming up this week include former National Security adviser john bolton cofounder of black lives matter and the colorado and colorado governor. You can register to watch these interviews and more at Washington Post live. Com. Once again mine jonathan k. Cspans washington journal. Every day, we are taking your calls live on the air on the news of the day and discussing policy issues that impact you. Biotechnologyg, Innovation Organization chairman jeremy levin discusses how the biotech industry is helping in the fight against coronavirus. Than the fulcrum editorinchief David Hawkings talks about how the results of the november election will shape the next