Trump despises Representative Ilhan Omar. She represents everything he hates. She was born in Somalia, which he considers a “shithole” country. He has referred to the Somalis in Minnesota as “garbage.” He has also called Omar “garbage,” “totally crooked,” and told her to “get the hell out.”
Ilhan Omar is a fierce critic of Trump, and he is a fierce critic of Omar.
On October 12, Trump crossed a bright line. The Department of Homeland Security sent agents to raid Representative Omar’s home in Washington, D.C. They carried away boxes of material as well as her cellphone and her computer.
From all reports, they were searching for evidence of immigration fraud.
Omar was born in Somalia in 1982. She and her family escaped the country, which was at war and lived in a refugee camp in Kenya for four years. In 1995, the family immigrated to the United States. She became a naturalized citizen in 2000, when she was 17.
The family settled in Minneapolis, and she graduated from Thomas Edison High School. She then earned her bachelor’s degree from Notth Dakota State University.
She was elected to the Minnesota Hiusee of Representatives in 2017. She was elected to Congress in 2019. She was re-elected three times. She is standing for re-election on November 3.
There is a rule–not a law–that federal officials are not supposed to interfere in political campaigns within the 60-day period before an election.
The only time I recall that this rule was broken was when FBI Director James Comey announced that the FBI was reopening an investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails about 10 days before the 2016 election. A few days later, he closed the investigation, having found nothing. But it very likely cost her the election.
Trump’s investigation of Omar is motivated by malice. Markwayne Mullin, the former plumber who now leads the Department of Homeland Security, has admitted that his agents were looking for irregularities in the immigration paperwork filed by her father in 1995.
The assumption is that Trump is seeking an excuse to strip her of her citizenship and deport her to Somalia. What a victory that would be for the haters!
Trump is investigating whether her father (deceased) committed immigration fraud in 1995, when he and his family were admitted to this country. Ilhan at the time was 12 years old.
This is an outrageous abuse of power.
It is fascist.
She will be re-elected. In time, a federal judge will rebuke the Trump administration.
Add this to the long list of outrages committed by this lawless administration.
Trump’s actions are rarely guided by a commitment to truth or justice, but rather by whatever advances his personal and political interests. His outrage over alleged wrongdoing by individuals or states is selective, driven more by tribal loyalties and political expediency than by any consistent commitment to accountability or meaningful reform. The goal isn’t to fix the system, but to exploit its shortcomings for political advantage.
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Ilhan Omar has been accused of antisemitism, & has defended herself & apologized for any misunderstanding. I’ve read both sides of this debate & am thoroughly confused about what is the truth. Criticizing Israel’s government & military, which I do also, is not the same as antisemitism, though there are many on either side of the issue who blur the boundary. In any case, I don’t believe it justifies her persecution by T, & I support her on that issue. Please don’t jump on me for raising the question. I just honestly don’t know what to think, or what statements to believe. Is there any truly objective source?
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I don’t agree with all of Omar’s political views. But regardless of her views, the President should be ashamed to have launched a campaign of harassment and possible criminal prosecution of her.
She was elected and re-elected. Trump wants to silence her and try to deport her. It won’t work and it puts us in the same league with dictators.
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I agree there’s no justification for T’s — or anyone else’s — harassment of her by questioning her citizenship or other personal legal attacks. Regardless of her views or statements, that’s just un-American, back to Patrick Henry’s, “I may disagree with what you say, but I defend to the death your right to say it.” It’s reassuring to hear you also have reservations about some of her positions.
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I certainly don’t agree with all her views. But I strongly object to harassment of a critic by the President, with his awesome powers. Since he corrupted the Department of Justice, he can bankrupt her with the legal expenses of fighting for her rights. He can do this to anyone who has ever opposed him or run against him. He has already implied that he will prosecute Hillary, Obama and Biden if the Democrats dare to impeach him a third time for his multiple crimes.
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Donald Trump and his business entities have a multi-decade history of extensive litigation, involving thousands of state and federal lawsuits where critics and investigative reports note a pattern of using legal pressure, counter-suits, and delayed payments against contractors, workers, and opponents.
Early in his career (such as during a 1973 federal housing discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice), Trump adopted an aggressive litigation style under attorney Roy Cohn, which frequently involved filing large counterclaims, using delays, and attacking opponents publicly.
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Saying I hate the people you hate is what fascism does
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That’s why there’s antifa.
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Of all that’s happened lately, this investigation on Omar is the most disturbing to me.
John Ganz writes in his blog on history “Unpopular Front” about the Illhan Omar investigation. He writes:
“it would be more precise to call this a case of creeping totalitarianism…”
“Totalitarian movements aspire to something much more radical: the destruction of independent political and juridical personhood. They attack not merely the liberties of particular citizens they seek to repress, but the concept of citizenship itself—and then, ultimately, the concept of shared humanity.”
“the attack on citizenship itself is both the very essence of the Trump movement and its most dangerous feature. From birtherism to the stolen-election myth, Trumpism can be understood as the notion that some Americans are not really Americans, that their political rights are illegitimate, and that the nation must be purged…”
I guess this was what Birtherism was always about anyway…
Terrorism labels, too, were always about denying citizenship protections to Muslims. The concept of citizenship & rights are closely tied, though the U.S. has long professed to believe in human rights as well.
Hannah Arendt, who was a 20th century philosopher, had a whole system of theories around citizenship & its definitions, the nation/state, who gets to be included or not included, what it means to be “stateless,” & much more—the point being that Nazi extermination camps rose out of exclusive definitions of nationhood (“blood & soil” stuff).
I remember reading some of “The Origins of Totalitarianism” in college, & being very relieved that the U.S. had a more expansive concept & was working to be more inclusive. Silly me.
It might be time to read Arendt again—she’s often referenced these days.
Read Ganz’s piece here:
https://open.substack.com/pub/johnganz/p/whats-at-stake-in-the-omar-case?r=dv89&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
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