Rep. Ilhan Omar Responds to Donald Trump’s Claim That She Staged Town Hall Attack

Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar is responding after President Donald Trump suggested she “probably had herself sprayed” following an attack during a Minneapolis town hall on Tuesday, Jan. 27.

Speaking on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday, Jan. 28, Omar, 43, said, “The difference between the president and I is that I was raised to be a decent human being and my faith teaches me to have compassion, and he lacks both of those things.”

Collins also noted that after Trump was wounded during an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July 2024, Omar described the incident as a “tragedy.”

During the interview, Omar accused the Trump administration of lying for labeling Renee Nicole Good “a domestic terrorist,” after she was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on the morning of Jan. 7. She said similar claims were made about Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by federal officers in Minneapolis on Jan. 24.

Omar said it was “fortunate” that both shootings were captured on video, which she argued showed what actually happened.

“This is also somebody who was talking about me in his town hall in Iowa, and then seems to exhibit some sort of dementia when he says he doesn’t think about me,” Omar added, referring to Trump’s comments in the state on Tuesday as she continued responding to his suggestion she staged the attack.

“Maybe it is time for the 25th amendment to be invoked, because he certainly cannot remember what he said and has done an hour ago,” she added.

Tuesday’s incident involved a man — later identified as 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak — who sprayed an orange liquid at Omar from a syringe as she spoke during the event.

It has since been reported that the liquid was likely apple cider vinegar, per CNN and CBS News.

Before the confrontation, Omar had been addressing constituents about ongoing unrest in Minneapolis. She also spoke about abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and called for the resignation or impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Just after she mentioned Noem, Kazmierczak — seated in the front row — jumped up and approached Omar, spraying her shirt with the substance, according to C-SPAN footage.

Several people shouted in alarm, with one person heard warning the crowd, “He sprayed something,” according to the video.

Speaking to ABC News’ Rachel Scott that evening, Trump said he hadn’t seen video of the assault, then accused Omar — whom he has criticized for years — of staging it.

“I don’t think about her. I think she’s a fraud,” Trump told the outlet. “She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.”

The attack came a day after Trump said the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Congress were “looking at” Omar, and claimed she’d “left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than 44 Million Dollars.”

“Time will tell all,” he wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday, Jan. 26.

Omar responded in an X post: “Sorry, Trump, your support is collapsing and you’re panicking.”

“Right on cue, you’re deflecting from your failures with lies and conspiracy theories about me,” she added. “Years of ‘investigations’ have found nothing. Get your goons out of Minnesota.”

Speaking during a news conference in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Omar suggested Trump’s rhetoric toward her and the Somali community may have contributed to Tuesday’s attack.

“What the facts have shown since I’ve gotten into elected office is that every time the president of the United States has chosen to use hateful rhetoric to talk about me and the community that I represent, my death threats skyrocket,” the politician said, per NBC News.

Omar also said Trump is “obsessed” with her.

“Last night, the man that attacked me was specifically upset that Trump’s order to deport Somalis was not yielding enough deportations of Somalis. So he wanted to come get the person he thought was protecting the Somalis,” she said, per USA Today.

“Well, we are protected by the Constitution. Sorry to tell you the truth. We are protected by the Constitution,” she added, the outlet reported.

“I do believe that the facts of the situation are that I wouldn’t be where I am at today, having to pay for security, having the government to think about providing me security, if Donald Trump wasn’t in office,” Omar continued, according to NBC News.