Ilhan Omar Reveals If She'll Vote for Biden After Rebellion in Home State

Democrat Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota revealed on Wednesday that she will vote for President Joe Biden in the 2024 election despite an "uncommitted" primary rebellion in her state.

Democrats have been divided over the U.S. response to the Israel-Hamas war, which began after the Palestinian militant group launched thousands of missiles from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest-ever air strikes in Gaza. More than 30,800 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Associated Press said. The rising death toll has led to international calls for a ceasefire.

Despite Biden's big wins on Super Tuesday last week, a sizeable protest vote in Minnesota and six other states against his support for Israel occurred. With almost 90 percent of the expected votes counted in Minnesota, 19 percent of Democrats marked their ballots "uncommitted" to show their opposition to Biden's backing for Israel's moves in Gaza. Omar, who has been a fierce critic of Biden's Israel policy, represents a district in the state.

In a CNN interview, Omar addressed the "uncommitted" votes as she was asked if she will vote for Biden in the presidential election, in which he will likely face off with former President Donald Trump.

Newsweek has reached out to Omar's office and Biden's campaign via email for comment.

"Of course. Democracy is on the line," she said. "We are facing down fascism and I personally know what my life felt like having Trump as the president of this country and I know what it felt like for my constituents and for people around this country and around the world. We have to do everything that we can to make sure that does not happen to our country again.

"The uncommitted have been very clear they want a change in policy and we've seen that within three days we had the vice president using the word ceasefire. We now have the president saying there is a red line and is going to condition aid. So there has been significant progress."

Omar's comments come after Vice President Kamala Harris said last week that Israel needed to do more to allow aid into Gaza, where she said people were suffering from inhumane conditions and a "humanitarian catastrophe."

"Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire," Harris said at an event in Selma, Alabama. "There is a deal on the table, and as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal. Let's get a ceasefire."

Meanwhile, Biden in his State of the Union address last week announced a plan to provide aid to Gaza. The plan would see the U.S. military establish a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza to ramp up humanitarian assistance.

Additionally, Biden accused Hamas of targeting civilians but also called on Israel to mitigate harm to civilians.

"Israel has an added burden because Hamas hides and operates among the civilian population, but Israel also has a fundamental responsibility to protect innocent civilians in Gaza," Biden said. "This war has taken a greater toll on innocent civilians than all previous wars in Gaza combined."