Rep. Ilhan Omar says US 'kind of helped lead the devastation' in Venezuela

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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) slams the Trump administration’s policies amid ongoing turmoil in Venezuela

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) slams the Trump administration’s policies amid ongoing turmoil in Venezuela, saying a lot of the policies 'kind of helped the devastation' there.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, suggested Wednesday the United States could be partly to blame for the ongoing turmoil in Venezuela, saying the policies of the Trump administration had "kind of helped lead the devastation."

Appearing on Democracy Now, a news program broadcast on PBS, among other outlets, Omar was asked to weigh in on what the host described as a "US-supported coup attempt" against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

"A lot of the policies that we have put in place has kind of helped lead the devastation in Venezuela and we have sort of set the stage for where we are arriving today," Omar said. "This particular bullying and the use of sanctions to eventually intervene and make regime change really does not help the people of countries like Venezuela and it certainly does not help and is not in the interest of the United States."

Omar added that there are "finally" lawmakers who have been elected to Congress who agree with her views.

That sparked plenty of backlash on social media and renewed calls for her to resign from the House Foreign Relations Committee.

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The freshman congresswoman previously did not recognize the man the U.S. goverment considers to be the legitimate leader of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó. She also faced backlash for claiming that President Donald Trump was backing a "coup."

Omar has sparked plenty of controversy since being elected to Congress. She was repeatedly accused of anti-Semitism for various criticisms of support for Israel and was slammed for referring to 9/11 as "some people did something."