President Donald Trump slammed Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) while speaking at a rally in her home state on Thursday, calling her a “fraud” and “disgrace to our country.”
“How the hell did that ever happen,” Trump said of Omar’s election to Congress in 2018. “How do you have such a person representing you in Minnesota?”
President denounced Omar, a Somali American lawmaker, as an “America-hating socialist” and criticized her for using the phrase “some people did something” as she spoke about how the reaction to 9/11 affected the Muslim community in the U.S.
Trump also described Omar as a “disgrace to our country.” His campaign held his rally in the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis, which is part of Omar’s voting district.
“How do you have such a person representing you in Minnesota? She is a disgrace to our country,” he said, adding that she was the reason he was going to win Minnesota’s vote for reelection in 2020.
Omar won the 5th Congressional District by a wide margin in the 2018 election.
Omar is one of four Democratic congresswomen of color whom Trump sparred with this summer. The so-called “squad” included Omar as well as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).
Later in his rally Thursday night, Trump vowed to stop Somali refugees from coming into the country. Minneapolis has one of the largest populations of Somali refugees in the country.
“For many years, leaders in Washington brought large numbers of refugees to your state from Somalia without considering the impact on schools, communities and taxpayers,” Trump said. “I promise you as president, I would give local communities a greater say in refugee policy and put in place enhanced vetting and responsible immigration controls.”
In response, Omar called Trump’s attacks “xenophobic” and called for her supporters to donate to her campaign.
Trump “shouted xenophobic conspiracy theories about me,” she tweeted Thursday night.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed the year Rep. Omar was elected to Congress as 2016. She was elected in 2018.