Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar said she would be willing to speak with President Donald Trump, even as he continues to criticize her publicly.
In comments to The New York Times, Omar said she would “invite the president to have Somali tea with us to see how non-garbage and amazing we are,” referring to language Trump has used in recent weeks about Somali migrants. “I don’t want them in our country. Their country is no good for a reason,” Trump said recently.
Omar also suggested that a recent escalation in immigration enforcement operations “came in direct response to Trump’s racist comments about Somali people, and about me in particular.”
Still, she said Trump’s rhetoric has not shaken her or her community. “We feel bad, actually, for the president,” she said. “We also know we’re not garbage. We have not been broken by the life experiences that we’ve gone through. Words are not really that hurtful when you’ve survived war,” she added, referencing her childhood flight from Somalia amid civil war.
Omar has argued that Trump’s comments have had real-world consequences, saying his rhetoric has fueled threats against her life. She described the pattern as “boilerplate xenophobia” that can escalate into danger.
In an interview with The Guardian last week, Omar called Trump’s recent rally remarks in Pennsylvania “vile,” saying they reflected “a really unhealthy and creepy obsession.” She cited his mockery of her hijab, repetition of a false claim that she married her brother, and his suggestion that she should be expelled from the country.
Omar told The Guardian she sees “a clear correlation” between Trump’s language and the threats she receives. “When you have the president using dehumanizing language every single day, we know that message gets to the worst humans possible in this country and that they then take action,” she said.
Omar has also pushed back on criticism from other Republicans. She recently dismissed Rep. Randy Fine after he said he is considering forcing a vote in the House to expel her from Congress.
Speaking to Axios, Omar said she doesn’t think “anybody takes that man serious.” “I don’t think he takes himself serious, so nobody should worry about anything he says,” she added.
Fine said he is “actively considering” moving forward, pointing to a fundraising email from Omar’s campaign that suggested he should be expelled for comments in which he said Muslims should be “destroyed.”
Axios noted that any such effort would likely fail because expulsion requires a two-thirds vote in the House. Even if all Republicans supported it, Fine would still need backing from roughly 85 Democrats to remove her.
