#IStandWithIlhan Trends After Trump Targets Her At Rally

The hashtag "#IStandWithIlhan" erupted on Twitter Wednesday night and into Thursday following President Donald Trump's Greenville, N.C. rally, where he targeted Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and the crowd broke out into chants of "send her back."

Trump specifically targeted Omar, a first-term lawmaker and Somali refugee, early in the Wednesday rally, continuing a days-long attack against her and three other progressive minority congresswomen. The crowd booed Omar at the first mention of her name, The Hill reported. Trump also accused Omar of demeaning U.S. service members and minimizing the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Social media users created the hashtag "#IStandWithIlhan" to support her following the chant. At 12 p.m. Thursday, the hashtag was trending in the United States.

Omar responded to the chant by quoting a Maya Angelou poem:

Meanwhile, Trump disavowed the chant on Thursday, telling reporters he was "not happy" with the crowd starting it.

"I was not happy with it. I disagree with it. But again, I didn't say that. They did. But I disagree with it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He also said he “started speaking very quickly” in an attempt to silence the rally attendees.

The rally follows days of traded words and accusations between Trump, the four congresswomen and other politicians. Earlier this week, Trump took to Twitter to target the four women, which include Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna S. Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

In the tweets, Trump stated the four Democratic congresswomen "originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe" and they should "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came."

Omar responded to Trump on Twitter, accusing him of "stoking white nationalism" because he is angry people like her are serving in Congress and "fighting against his hate-filled agenda."

On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 240-187 to pass a resolution condemning Trump's tweets against the congresswomen. According to reports, the resolution rebuked the president's statements, calling them racist.

All three Republicans in Minnesota's delegation — Tom Emmer, Pete Stauber and Jim Hagedorn — opposed the resolution. Minnesota Democrats in the U.S. House defended Omar and the others against the president's attacks. All five voted in favor of the resolution.