Ilhan Omar’s spokesperson hits out at Fox News for ‘dangerous’ report about daughter’s Twitter page

‘Gotta give it to Fox News for attempting to smear me, but instead making me sound cool,’ Isra Hirsi says

A spokesman for Democratic Minnesota Rep Ilhan Omar harshly criticised Fox News after Ms Omar's daughter Isra Hirsi suffered online abuse following a Fox report about her Twitter bio.

The conservative network reported last week that Ms Hirsi, an 18-year-old climate activist, had added a “communist hammer and sickle” to her Twitter bio.

“Have you no shame? Rep Omar is an elected official, her child is not. Also, given the fact that Rep Omar and her kids receive a significant amount of death threats, this is highly irresponsible and dangerous,” Omar spokesman Jeremy Slevin told Fox News.

In response to the article, Ms Hirsi tweeted: “Gotta give it to Fox News for attempting to smear me, but instead making me sound cool.”

Ms Hirsi’s addition to her Twitter bio caused outrage among some conservatives. Right-wing journalist Andy Ngô tweeted: “Rep Ilhan Omar’s daughter added a communist symbol to her bio. Isra Hirsi has talked before about how she writes some of her mother’s tweets. During the BLM race riots in her city, Isra put out a call for donations for rioters. She has also called for a communist insurrection.”

Georgia Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene added: “Apples don’t fall far from the tree... #JihadSquad.”

In response to Ms Greene, Ms Omar’s chief of staff Connor McNutt tweeted: “Vitriol like this is just the tip of the iceberg for the daily onslaught of anti-Muslim, racist, xenophobic, and misogynistic hate targeted at [Ilhan Omar]. I just never thought it would have such a comfortable home in Congress. Targeting anyone like this is shameful and dangerous.”

Mr McNutt added that Ms Greene was “harassing Rep Omar’s teenage daughter based on a Fox News clickbait story”.

Ms Hirsi, a co-founder of the US Youth Climate Strike, displayed screenshots of some of the reports and the subsequent messages she received in a TikTok video posted on Thursday.

One of the DMs she received said: “Oh look it’s the daughter of a terrorist piece of sh**!”

Ms Hirsi wrote in a video caption that “Twitter conservatives are obsessed [with] me today [because] I put the hammer and sickle in my Twitter bio LMAO.”

She then shared screenshots of the abusive messages she received following the reports about her Twitter bio.

Ms Hirsi tweeted in response to the outrage: “Every few months, the right becomes obsessed with me, a teenage girl, for having political opinions lol please stay mad.”

Ms Hirsi has garnered more than 213,000 followers on Twitter. Her 2020 TED talk “The Angry Black Girl” has been viewed just over 20,000 times.

The Independent has reached out to Fox News for comment.