Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is being criticized online for her comments on a video of passengers singing Christian songs on an airplane.
Passengers, many of whom were with a pastor from Kingdom Realm Ministries, Jack Jensz Jr., on an April 9th on an EasyJet flight, were filmed singing Christian songs in a viral video titled "Worshipping Jesus 30,000 feet in the air."
The viral video, which has received over 33 million views, sparked conversations on social media, and Rep. Omar's comments have been met with accusations of "Christianphobia."
The Muslim congresswoman, a native of Somalia who represents a district in Minneapolis, Minnesota, commented on the clip, tweeting, "I think my family and I should have a prayer session next time I am on a plane. How do you think it will end?"
While Omar is unclear on the full reasoning behind her tweets, it is believed she is referring to alleged profiling of Muslims during air travel.
Professor and author Gad Saad slammed Omar as a "vile peddler of faux-victimhood hates her adoptive country," adding that she is "a vile individual."
Conservative author Mark Dice took issue with Omar's tweet, writing, "Stop with the Christianphobia, Congresswoman," a sentiment echoed by congressional candidate Irene Armendariz-Jackson, a Texas Republican, who responded, "Does @IlhanMN serve any other purpose in Congress other than to make bigoted comments?"
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., responded to Omar's tweets, saying, "Would that be kind of like 'when some people did something?' " a reference to Omar's 2019 comments on the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Sarah Idan, the founding CEO of nongovernmental organization Humanity Forward and the winner of Miss Universe Iraq in 2017, also was upset by Omar's tweets.
"If someone yelled Allahu Akbar I'd freak out, YOU'd freak out and ANY Muslim would freak out given the fact we still have many radical Islamists in our religion (Hizbollah, ISIS, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas etc) all would love to hijack a plane for another 9/11 who we kidding," Idan wrote Sunday.
Avi Kaner, co-owner of Morton Williams Supermarkets, said that Omar "has no idea about what transpired and whether or not it was approved. But it's suddenly about her."
Cicely Davis, a candidate in the Republican primary for Omar's seat, told Newsmax:
"It speaks volumes that Ilhan’s divisive impulses are so strong that she couldn’t let something so simple and good stand without her snarky retort on Easter." She said Omar "knew what she was doing" issue her remark, even though she has to be aware that "prayers are commonplace on international flights."
The clip was posted by Jensz, who was with members of his congregation singing mid-flight on a trip to help Ukrainian refugees in Europe, TMZ reported.
Omar's tweet had some defenders, including one activist and pastor, John Pavlovitz, who tweeted, "The only people angry about her statement are the professed Christians building a hateful theocracy here in America … Her words trigger and expose them."
Omar's latest comments, in this incident toward Christianity, has found herself in controversies surrounding religion before.
The Jewish community, including many Jewish Democrats she works with in the House of Representatives, has slammed several of Omar's tweets as antisemitic. In one particularly notable tweet from 2019, Omar insinuated Jews buy political influence because "it's all about the Benjamins," in response to a tweet criticizing Kevin McCarthy's approach to Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Omar.
Omar also raised eyebrows last summer. While defending herself against allegations of antisemitism, she remarked that her Jewish Democrat colleagues "have not been partners in justice," and "have not been equally engaged in seeking justice around the world."
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.