President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric against Rep. Ilhan Omar on Thursday, repeating a long-debunked conspiracy theory that she married her brother to gain US citizenship. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump described Omar as “SCUM” and disparaged her native Somalia.
“Ilhan Omar’s country of Somalia is plagued by a lack of central Government control, persistent Poverty, Hunger, Resurgent Terrorism, Piracy, decades of Civil War, Corruption, and pervasive Violence,” Trump wrote.
Donald Trump Says Ilhan Omar Married Her Brother To Get US Citizenship
“All of this, and Ilhan Omar tells us how to run America! P.S. Wasn’t she the one that married her brother in order to gain Citizenship??? What SCUM we have in our Country, telling us what to do, and how to do it. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump is a racist scum bag.
Ilhan Omar NEVER MARRIED her brother.
This is a blatant lie. pic.twitter.com/K7amkRresv
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) September 18, 2025
The claim that Omar married her brother has circulated since her time in the Minnesota State House but has never been substantiated.
Omar, who sought asylum in the United States in 1995 and became a citizen in 2000, publicly refuted the rumor in 2016, calling it “absolutely false and ridiculous” while providing documentation of her marital history. No credible evidence has ever emerged to support the accusation Trump revived.
Ilhan Omar Faces Backlash Over Charlie Kirk Comments
Trump’s comments coincided with a failed Republican effort to formally censure Omar for remarks about conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was recently killed in a shooting in Minnesota. A resolution introduced by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) to censure Omar and remove her from the House Education and the Workforce and Budget committees fell short in a 214–213 vote.
Mace, who has clashed repeatedly with Omar on social media, argued that Omar should be deported to Somalia over her criticisms of Kirk’s stance on gun rights and race relations after the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Omar dismissed Mace’s efforts as a political ploy “to raise money and boost her run for Governor.”
Democrats Push Back
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemned the censure attempt.
“Is this what civility looks like in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives?” he asked on the floor. “We live in an era of intense political violence as we have seen with the recent assassinations of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk,” Jeffries added, referencing the shootings of public figures in Minnesota.
As debate unfolded, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) introduced a counter-measure to censure Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) over allegations related to his personal and professional conduct. Mills was among four Republicans who ultimately joined Democrats in rejecting the resolution against Omar.
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
