US President Donald Trump accused Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of staging the attack in which a man used a syringe to spray what was later determined to be apple cider vinegar on her during a town hall on Tuesday, in a phone interview with ABC News later that evening.
"I think she's a fraud. She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her," Trump said.
The attack occured shortly after Omar began speaking at the event, during which she called for the abolition of ICE and the resignation of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
Omar continued the town hall after the attack, and Omar later posted on X, "I'm ok. I'm a survivor, so this small agitator isn't going to intimidate me from doing my work."
Omar says death threats skyrocket after Trump's hateful rhetoric
In a press conference the next day, speaking on the attack, Omar said that "blame is very interesting, but facts are more important, and what the facts have shown since I've gotten into elected office is that every time the president of the United States has chosen to use hateful rhetoric to talk about me and the community that I represent, my death threats skyrocket."
In an interview with CNN, Omar said that the attacker was not known to her or her team, and she did not think he had attended any previous town halls of hers, although Omar said "we continue to dig into it."
When asked to respond to the President's response, bearing in mind Omar's own response to when Trump was attacked and nearly assassinated at a rally, when Omar condemned violence and said it was sad to hear the tragedy occurred, Omar separated herself from Trump.
"The difference between the president and I is that I was raised to be a decent human being, and my faith teaches me to have compassion, and he lacks both of those things," Omar said.