(Headline USA) Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., claimed this week that Fox News hosts who were in communication with former President Donald Trump should be legally considered “accomplices” to the Jan. 6 Capitol uprising.
During an interview with MSNBC on Saturday, Omar was asked about what text messages between Trump and Fox News host Sean Hannity reveal about the network.
“We are learning and have known for a long time that Fox News and its hosts have played a role in this,” Omar replied.
“I would consider them accomplices to what took place, inciting that riot, calling that mob to descend on Washington, the insurrection that ended up taking place on January 6, the big lie of the stolen election, the working with supremacists to undermine our democracy and interrupt the process of peacefully transitioning the presidency. They were in on it.”
Omar also blasted Republican members of Congress who supported Trump in the aftermath of the protests.
“And if you really think about one of the other big revelations that came out was that Republican members of Congress, like Scott Perry and others, asked for a pardon,” she said.
“They were lobbying the president for a pardon after the January 6 attack. That, to me, is a confession of guilt. Why would you be seeking a pardon if you did not think you committed a crime against our country?”
Text messages between Trump and Hannity show that the Fox News host was actually one of several people who tried to get Trump to call off the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol building.
After the riot, Hannity offered to help Trump come up with a plan to “smooth things over.” One idea he mentioned to former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany was a pardon for Hunter Biden, who has been under federal investigation for alleged tax fraud and money laundering.
Hannity’s other suggestions to Trump were, “no more stolen election talk,” and “attending [Joe Biden’s] inauguration.”