Rush Limbaugh predicted dire consequences Thursday should Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota someday become the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The host of “The Rush Limbaugh Show” discussed the hypothetical situation during his syndicated radio program in response to a question about the congresswoman asked by a caller.
Ms. Omar, a former Somali refugee who fled the country as a child, was not born in the U.S. and is therefore constitutionally ineligible to become president, the caller noted.
But the House speaker is third in line for the presidency under the Constitution, meaning whoever holds that role would be poised to become president should both the president and vice president become incapacitated.
“What happens if she would become speaker of the House?” the caller asked. “She’s not eligible to run for president.”
“My guess is that Black Lives Matter would come along and shoot anybody who said she can’t do it,” Mr. Limbaugh responded. “Because if she’s speaker of the House, do you realize we’ve lost the country? If she’s speaker of the House, she’s just a hop, skip and jump away from being president if she wants to be.”
Mr. Limbaugh, 69, later added he was “exaggerating somewhat.”
Ms. Omar’s office had no immediate comment on Mr. Limbaugh’s remarks.
American presidents are required to be natural born citizens under the U.S. Constitution. Following the vice president and speaker, the president pro tempore of the Senate and secretary of state are third and fourth in the lines of succession, respectively.
In addition to being the first Somalia-American elected to Congress, Ms. Omar is notably among the first two Muslim women elected to Congress as well.