Trump escalates feud with Ilhan Omar, appears to suggest she is linked to ISIS
The president has previously called for Omar, the first Somali American elected to Congress, to be deported.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar of profiting off of a widespread fraud investigation in her home state without providing any evidence. | Francis Chung/POLITICO
President Donald Trump on Tuesday escalated his ongoing feud with progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar, appearing to suggest baselessly the Minnesota Democrat is aligned with ISIS leaders in her birth country of Somalia.
In a post to Truth Social, Trump linked to a news report about U.S. forces striking ISIS-Somalia leaders in Somalian caves. He captioned the post, “Was Ilhan Omar there to protect her corrupt ‘homeland?’”
Omar, 43, is a Somalian-born Muslim and the first Somali American elected to Congress. She and her family fled the country when she was 8 years old and, after spending four years in a Kenyan refugee camp, the family moved to America. She became a U.S. citizen in 2000.
The progressive legislator has drawn the president’s ire for years.
Trump has repeatedly accused Omar of profiting off of a widespread fraud investigation in her home state without providing any evidence; called her “garbage”; and insisted she be jailed and deported back to Somalia. He has previously mocked her hijab and recently announced the Justice Department will be investigating the congresswoman after Omar’s net worth skyrocketed.
A spokesperson for Omar previously told POLITICO she has not received anything from the DOJ about an investigation. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, though Omar had previously said Trump is “obsessed” with her.
A White House spokesperson pointed back to the president’s social media post when asked for comment.
Watch: The Conversation
Tensions between Trump and Omar have only increased as the White House’s immigration crackdown has escalated in Minnesota.
Omar has repeatedly issued calls to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She has also called Trump and his administration “liars” for calling Renee Good “a domestic terrorist” after she was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis last month.
Then, after a man charged at Omar and sprayed her with what was later identified as water and apple cider vinegar during a town hall, she accused Trump of spewing “reprehensible rhetoric” that allows “right-wing grifters” to “terrorize our community.” Trump later said Omar “probably had herself sprayed.” The man was arrested and ultimately charged with assaulting or impeding a federal employee.
The U.S. military has launched a series of strikes targeting ISIS facilities in Somalia, according to the United States Africa Command. The latest strike occurred near the Golis Mountains.
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