Ilhan Omar Defends Somalia Remarks Amid Backlash

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has countered backlash from online commentators and politicians over comments she purportedly made about Somalia to an an audience in a hotel in Minneapolis.

A clip of the Minnesota lawmaker went viral with over 2.6 million views after it was posted on X, with a translation saying Omar had said: “As Somalis, one day we will go after our missing territories.”

In comments responding to the reaction to the clip, Omar said this had been “not only slanted but completely off.”

Newsweek is attempting to verify the translation and approached Omar’s office for comment out of hours.

lhan Omar attends a press conference at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on January 25, 2023. She has said translations of comments she made about Somalia were inaccurate. lhan Omar attends a press conference at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on January 25, 2023. She has said translations of comments she made about Somalia were inaccurate. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

One X account said Omar referenced territories Somalia claims in neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia.

There is an ongoing dispute between Somalia and Ethiopia over an area known as Somaliland that Somalia claims as its own.

Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, says it is an independent state but is not recognized internationally. Somalia claims Somaliland as part of its territory and said a recent deal between authorities in the unrecognized state and Ethiopia, involving the latter developing a naval base, is an act of aggression.

“I wouldn’t expect more from these propagandists,” Omar said in her response to the clip on X. “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.

“Somalis in Somalia and in the diaspora are united in that effort and I stand in solidarity with them. No amount of harassment and lies will ever change that.”

Somaliland’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Rhoda J Elmi, said the territory’s authority was “profoundly surprised, even shocked” on discovering Omar’s purported comments.

“The language she employed was regrettably unbecoming of both the office she holds and the constituents she represents,” Elmi wrote on X.

“Her expressions were lacking in common decency and revealed a significant lack of understanding of basic facts,” Elmi said. “Specifically troubling, were her endeavors to revive the once-violent and dangerous ideology of Greater Somalia or Somali Weyn, which caused so much death, destruction and conflict in the Horn of Africa.”

Elmi added that Omar’s purported comments were “bewildering” given that the congresswoman says she has faced repeated questions from opponents on her loyalties because of her background.

She said it was baffling to see Omar “accuse the entire #Somaliland nation of ‘falsely claiming Somali identity.'”

Omar is one of two Muslims in the House of Representatives and moved to the U.S. when she was a child, after her family fled Somalia to escape the civil war there.

Part of Omar’s speech in Minneapolis was posted by conservative commentator Marina Medvin, who said Omar said she is “Somalian first, Muslim second.”

MAGA Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene went as far as to call Omar a “terrorist sympathizer.”

“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,” Greene, known for her controversial statements, said.

“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,” she said.

In 2019, Omar told CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that she is “as American as everyone else is.”

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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