OAN’s Elizabeth Volberding
6:12 PM – Monday, January 29, 2024
Minnesota Democrat Representative Ilhan Omar was called to “resign in disgrace” by a top House Republican and was criticized by social media users after delivering a speech that critics assert “supported Somali interests.”
Congresswoman Omar (D-Minn.) is now facing immense backlash from the media, American citizens, and politicians over remarks that she purportedly made about Somalia during a speech in Minneapolis on January 27th.
“Ilhan Omar’s appalling, Somalia-first comments are a slap in the face to the Minnesotans she was elected to serve and a direct violation of her oath of office,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said on X, formerly Twitter. “She should resign in disgrace.”
In a translated video of her remarks made in Somali over the weekend, Omar, who is the first Somali-American member of Congress, seemed to reassure the Somali-American people that she would do everything within her power to breakaway the Republic of Somaliland from entering into a sea-access agreement with landlocked Ethiopia.
Somalia and Ethiopia have undergone a prolonged disagreement over a territory that Somalia claims as its own, known as Somaliland. Nevertheless, Somaliland, formally known as the Republic of Somaliland, claims to be an independent state, it is not acknowledged by other countries.
Somalia recently asserted its territorial claims to Somaliland and has denounced any opposition as an “act of aggression” in an agreement between Ethiopian authorities and those of the unrecognized state.
However, the congresswoman is now claiming that someone had mistranslated her remarks during the speech.
“It’s not only slanted but completely off,” Omar explained regarding the subtitles in a clip of her speech shared by Republic of Somaliland Foreign Minister Rhoda Elmi. “But I wouldn’t expect more from these propagandists. I pray for them and for their sanity. No nation state can survive if its states start to get involved in land lease negotiations with other countries without the consent of the federal government…”
“While I am in Congress, no one will take Somalia’s sea,” Omar said during the speech, according to the video’s translation. “The United States will not back others to rob us. So, do not lose sleep over that.”
After being posted on X (Twitter), the video of the Minnesota lawmaker’s speech went viral, garnering over 2.6 million views.
“Take note of Omar’s public conduct,” Elmi urged House leadership, claiming that the speech was “unbecoming [of] a United States Congresswoman.”
Additionally, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) criticized Omar on social media for promising to defend Somalia while opposing efforts to strengthen the border between the United States and Mexico.
“Terrorist sympathizer Ilhan Omar in her own words: Somalian first. Muslim second. She never mentions America,” Greene said. “She flaunts using her position as congresswoman to protect Somalia’s border while our border is invaded by MILLIONS of illegals who are a danger to America. These people hate America and they’re so emboldened by the Democrats’ disdain for our country, they’re not even trying to hide it anymore.”
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