The Somali Muslim refugee who represents the 5th U.S. congressional district of Minnesota proved yet again that she is not an American and still considers herself a Somali.
In remarks about an election in a place called Puntland in Somalia on January 27, she clearly stated that her main interest in Congress is representing the country from whence she came. And the U.S. government, she said in her native tongue, will do what Somalians tell it to do.
Omar said she is in Congress to protect the interests of Somalia and Somalis.
Omar and the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, the newspaper that downplayed reports that she married her brother, claim the translation of her remarks is faulty.
But the translation posted to X by Somaliland’s deputy minister of foreign affairs suggests that it is accurate.
Two Translations
Omar’s remarks provoked Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to call for her denaturalization and deportation, and U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Republican who represents Minnesota-6, wants her ejected from Congress.
But the Star Tribune quickly ran to her aid.
“Omar’s office pointed to a more accurate translation of her speech posted online,” the newspaper reported:
A Star Tribune reporter who speaks Somali listened to the speech and reviewed the transcript, and found it matched Omar’s actual comments. It said:
“My answer was the U.S. government will do what we tell the U.S. government to do. We as Somalis should have that confidence in ourselves. We live in this country. We pay taxes in this country. It’s a country where one of your own sits in Congress. As long as I’m in Congress no one will take Somalia’s sea. And the United States will not support other people to rob us. Rest assured Minnesotans. The woman you sent to Congress is aware of you and has the same interest as you.”
The translation now under dispute characterized Omar’s comments this way: “The U.S. government will only do what Somalians in the U.S. tell them to do. They will do what we want and nothing else. They must follow our orders and that is how we will safeguard the interest of Somalia … together we will protect the interests of Somalia.”
Problem is, the Star Tribune “fact check” omits much of the translation provided by Somaliland Ambassador Rhoda J Elmi, in which Omar clearly states that Somalis are her “blood” and “Somalians first.”
Somaliland is an unrecognized, self-governing nation that declared independence from Somalia.
Said Omar:
We are an organized society. Brother and sisters. People of the same blood. People who know they are Somalians first, Muslims second, who protect one another, who come to each other’s aid to the aid of other Muslims, too.…
The U.S. Government will only do what Somalians in the U.S. tell them to do. They will do what we want and nothing else.…
We Somalians must have the confidence in ourselves that we call for the shots in the U.S. We live in the U.S., pay taxes in the U.S., and have a real voice. The U.S. is a country where one of your daughters (myself) is in Congress to represent your interest. For as long as I am in the U.S. Congress, Somalia will never be in danger, its waters will not be stolen by Ethiopia or others. The U.S. would not dare to support anyone against Somalia to steal our land or oceans.
Sleep in comfort, knowing I am here to protect the interests of Somalia from inside the U.S. system. The woman you sent to Congress is working day and night to protect your interest. She knows your plight and that of Somalia.
Over the video, Elmi attacked Omar’s “unbecoming” remarks.
“We were profoundly surprised, even shocked on discovering the remarks,” Elmi wrote. “The language she employed was regrettably unbecoming of both the office she holds and the constituents she represents.”
Elmi said the remarks lacked “common decency” and “understanding of basic facts,” and furthermore, were “ethno-racist.”
For her part, Omar called the translation “slanted.”
Get Rid of Her
Fury ensued.
“Expel from Congress, denaturalize and deport!” DeSantis wrote on X.
“No sitting member of Congress should be able to blatantly spew anti-American rhetoric and get away with it,” Emmer said. “I am demanding an ethics investigation into Ilhan Omar’s appalling, Somalia-first comments.”
Whatever the accuracy of the translation, Omar likely doesn’t consider herself an American, despite being a naturalized “citizen.”
In 2017, she said the American GIs who fought Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid, memorialized in Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War and the subsequent film, were terrorists.
But worse still, when she landed in the United States, courtesy of U.S. taxpayers, she brought the graft and corruption that characterize the Third World slum from which she came.
She married her brother, credible reports say, to commit immigration and student-loan fraud. As well, she pumped campaign money into the political consultancy of her husband, a form of self-dealing. She married that consultant, Tim Mynett, after helping wreck his marriage.
She was also investigated for voter fraud.
Last year, the GOP booted her off the sensitive House Foreign Relations Committee because of “antisemitic” comments that made her a national security threat.
Why an African immigrant with openly anti-American views was permitted on the committee is unexplained.