Ilhan Omar on George Floyd, 5 years later

Politico

20-05-2025

Programming note: We'll be off next Tuesday, May 27, following the federal holiday in the U.S., and we'll return to your inboxes the following day, May 28.
What up, Recast fam. On today's agenda:
This weekend marks five years since George Floyd's murder by a Minneapolis police officer, a moment captured on video that sparked international protests calling for an end to systemic racism and a national conversation on how law enforcement interacts with Black and brown communities.
The murder took place in the district represented by Rep. Ilhan Omar, a member of the Squad who has become a lightning rod for conservative provocateurs. In the wake of Floyd's murder, with protests rising around the country, corporations implementing DEI policies — and pledging collectively to spend some $50 billion to work toward eradicating systemic racism — and politicians openly talking about reforming policing, Omar hoped his death would spur radical change in the nation.
But today, the protests have evaporated, DEI departments are shutting down and conservatives are even calling for President Donald Trump to issue a pardon to Derek Chauvin, the white officer convicted of killing Floyd. While it is unclear if Trump will move forward with a pardon, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told reporters 'it behooves us to be prepared for it,' according to The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Meanwhile, bipartisan talks around federal laws to reform policing have been scuttled. And by one measure, 2024 saw more people killed by police than in any year in the last decade.
As the anniversary approaches, I spoke with Omar about the push for a Chauvin pardon, the legacy of the protest movement his death prompted and whether Democrats bear any blame for ceding support of law enforcement to conservatives, who have since labeled the Democrats the party of 'defund the police.'
◆◆◆
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
THE RECAST: How do you think the country should be thinking about the fifth anniversary of George Floyd's murder?
OMAR: I believe after George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight for all of us in the United States and the world to witness, it seemed like it created a moment of hope. It ignited a lot of urgent conversations about the state of our nation, the state of policing and the state of our justice system, and who's entitled to justice. And unfortunately, as we have seen every time there is a movement for the liberation of Black people, for equality, for justice, we see a backslide — a backlash — where things not only stop progressing, but we are seeing more people emboldened with their racism.
We are seeing unjust calls for [Chauvin] to be pardoned, which is telling since they're not calling for the pardon for his fellow officers that were also charged and convicted by a jury of their peers.
Was The Recast forwarded to you by a friend? Don't forget to subscribe to the newsletter here.
You'll get a weekly breakdown of how race and identity are the DNA of American politics and policy.
THE RECAST: To your point, Chauvin was tried, convicted and sentenced during his 2021 trial. The following year a federal court convicted the former police officer of two constitutional rights violations — in a case where Chauvin himself pleaded guilty — and in 2023 the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld his second-degree murder conviction.
So what do you think is driving this sentiment, particularly from conservative circles, about this push to pardon Chauvin, given the courts have ruled pretty decisively on his actions?
OMAR: Well, I believe it is rooted in white supremacy.
And just to be clear, the president only has the ability to pardon people who are charged and convicted under federal law. George Floyd's murderer still faces the state murder conviction and will, regardless of the federal pardon, be in jail, and he will always be known to the world and people of this country as a murderer.
THE RECAST: You alluded to Floyd's murder creating 'a moment' in this country. There was also a moment on Capitol Hill to push forward on some sort of agreement on how policing on the federal level could be changed. Yet that promise went unfilled too. Can you talk a little bit about the frustrations that talks fell apart and if there are plans of this bill being reintroduced in this Congress?
OMAR: I was grateful at that moment that then-Congresswoman Karen Bass and the Black Caucus rallied around the idea of reforming our policing and justice system after George Floyd's murder. We weren't successful in getting it across the finish line, and that was a missed opportunity by Congress.
We know that with the passing of the bipartisan gun violence prevention legislation we were able to direct a lot of resources to help with some of those intended reforms across police departments. The Minneapolis Police Department has not become perfect, by any sense, but it's been reformed to some capacity. We've seen the consent decree from the DOJ come through, though we know that Trump's DOJ has paused it.
So I am optimistic in the fact that there will be lasting positive impacts in regards to policing in this country that came out of that movement in the summer of 2020. But I'm not optimistic about having a president that fans the flames of hate, racism and bigotry.
THE RECAST: Republicans have successfully labeled Democrats the party that was soft on crime and anti-police during the racial reckoning protests of five years ago. Is there anything Democrats can do to take back some of the mantle about how they are viewed as far as being welcoming to law enforcement?
OMAR: There's always a narrative battle when you're in politics.
I do believe that Democrats themselves have conceded that debate of whether we are for law and order and whether we care about the safety of our communities. None of us want hurt and harm for those who sign up to serve, but we do want people who actually care about that oath to serve.
I hope that my Democratic colleagues find a way to reclaim that narrative, that we are not the ones that are pardoning Jan. 6 insurrectionists who beat up and were ultimately the cause of the deaths of so many Capitol police officers. We are not the ones that are calling for a murderer to be released and pardoned. We are not the ones that are creating an environment for the law to be disregarded and for order to be dismantled in this nation.
I think oftentimes Democrats can end up being focused on pointing the finger at each other, instead of thinking about what the broader narrative is on what we are fighting for.
THE RECAST: There's plenty of finger-pointing going on now with how much of a role Joe Biden played in Democrats' defeats this past cycle. I take it you fall into the camp that Democrats should focus on crafting a message of taking on Trump.
OMAR: Oftentimes, I think we can be that kid who thinks they're smart, and they don't fully hear the teacher's instructions. And they raise their hand, try to answer, give the wrong answer and embarrass themselves. I do think that we often forget to read the room, to look at where our narrative should be and really hone in on what it means to care and and protect the future of this country.
BOTTOMS LAUNCHES GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL BID
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms surprised no one with her official campaign launch for Georgia governor on Tuesday.
If elected, she would score a number of historic firsts: She'd be the nation's first Black woman to become a governor, the first Black person and first woman to lead the state of Georgia — and the first Democrat to win the Governor's Mansion in a generation.
'Donald Trump is a disaster for our economy and our country,' Bottoms proclaimed in the nearly 2 1/2-minute announcement video. She poked fun at a minor kerfuffle earlier this year when the president claimed to have fired her from the White House Export Council, a post she was appointed to by Biden. She vehemently denies that she was fired, arguing that she resigned prior to Trump taking office.
'While I laugh when Donald Trump spent part of his first day in office firing me from a job I didn't even have, for thousands of hard working Georgians who've lost their livelihoods, Donald Trump is no laughing matter,' she said in the ad.
Bottoms enters the 2026 Democratic primary with broad name ID in the Peach State, but there are still looming questions about whether she can extend her reach outside the Atlanta area. It's also unclear if Georgia voters will be reluctant to elect her to the state's highest office after she stunned many Democrats by deciding against seeking a second term as mayor.
She faces a potentially crowded primary, with state Sen. Jason Esteves and Atlanta-area pastor Olu Brown having declared their candidacies. In March, Rep. Lucy McBath suspended her exploratory bid to help her husband recover from cancer surgery, but she left the door open to launching a run for governor in the future. On the Republican side, state Attorney General Chris Carr launched his bid last year, while MAGA darling Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is thought to be eyeing a run after bowing out of a chance to run for Senate next year.
Bottoms is running to replace the popular GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, who is term-limited.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING THIS WEEK
DOJ hits New Jersey Democrat with criminal charge — The Justice Department announced an assault charge Monday against Rep. LaMonica McIver, a New Jersey Democrat. She remains the only elected official currently charged with a crime following a tussle this month between federal agents and Democratic lawmakers who attempted to gain access to an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark. The city's mayor, Ras Baraka, was initially charged for trespassing, but those charges were later dropped.
Our POLITICO colleagues note the McIver charge 'is an extraordinary stress-test for the separation of powers at a time in which President Donald Trump is seeking to maximize executive branch dominance.'
TODAY'S CULTURE RECS
You make me wanna … sue! — We informed you a few issues back that hip-hop legends Salt-N-Pepa will finally be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. Ahead of their official induction ceremony, the pioneering female emcees are suing Universal Music Group over control of their music catalog.
A Spike Lee joint — The upcoming film'Highest 2 Lowest,' a remake of the 1963 Japanese film 'High and Low,' is reimagined and set in New York. It stars Denzel Washington as a music mogul and A$AP Rocky, who ransom's his son. Acclaimed director Spike Lee is garnering high praise from Variety, which calls the work 'a soul-searching genre movie that entertains while also sounding the alarm about where the culture could be headed.'
Shakira's Stirring Performance on Fallon — International superstar Shakira, who recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of her megahit 'Hips Don't Lie' on the 'Tonight Show,' returned Monday night to perform 'Antología,' proving that she can move a crowd even when seated on a stool.