Omar bails out Trump

Politico

She snidely refers to him as “Individual 1.” She has denounced him for “sabotaging the economy.” And she has accused him of engaging in “dehumanizing rhetoric.”

But this week, freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) has been President Donald Trump’s dream come true.

Amid a punishing run of bad news for Trump — ranging from his failed North Korea summit to the scathing testimony of his former lawyer Michael Cohen to an imminent political rebuke by the Republican Senate — Omar has instead consumed the political headlines, giving Democratic lawmakers a taste of the scandal and controversy that has dogged Republicans for the past two years.

Omar’s blunt anti-Israel statements, which even many Democrats call anti-Semitic, have not only fractured her party but have created a rival political narrative to Trump’s mounting setbacks. Where a few weeks ago, cable television networks cut to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s live commentary about Trump and Russia, this week they carried her uncomfortable words about seething fellow Democrats.

“It’s a gift,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), asked about the chaos in the House Democratic Caucus