Trump accuses ‘crazed’ media of concocting firestorm over Omar

President Donald Trump blamed the “Fake News Media” for concocting the firestorm over the racist “Send her back” chants at his rally — but quickly resumed his harsh attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar that egged the crowd on in the first place.

Trump accused Omar and her progressive allies like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) of making “the most vile and disgusting statements” and slammed journalists for covering the welcome that “Foul Mouthed Omar” received when she returned to her home state of Minnesota.

The early morning Twitter salvo was apparently aimed at righting Trump's propaganda ship after he was forced to make an improbable effort to disavow the explosive chants, even though he is shown on video whipping up the crowd at a Wednesday night rally.

The president had to back down amid fierce blowback from even his closest conservative allies in the Republican Party. GOP leaders fear that the racist anti-immigrant fervor that Trump is stoking will put them in an even deeper hole as the 2020 elections loom.

Trump bragged about the attendance at the rally in Greenville, North Carolina, which his aides falsely claimed attracted 20,000 supporters when the Williams Arena can only hold less than half that number.

He also slammed Omar for attracting only a small crowd to an impromptu welcome home rally in Minneapolis, and claimed she is very unpopular in her home state, without offering any evidence.

“(Minnesota is) a State which I will win in #2020 because they can't stand her and her hatred of our Country,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

Trump lost Minnesota by just 1.5% margin in 2016 as he outperformed expectations across the Rust Belt. But his polling numbers are way down in the region and he would lose the state along with the trifecta of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin if the election were held today.

Trump hopes to use the attacks on the progressive “squad” to cement support among white working-class voters, especially in the upper Midwest.

But his ugly attacks reflected in “Send her back” chant is also triggering a powerful reaction among liberals and better-educated moderate voters. That's the same dynamic that led to the Democratic #BlueWave landslide in the 2018 midterms — and GOP leaders fear it could hurt them again in 2020, despite a strong economy that would normally auger a good chance of Trump's reelection.