Rep. Ilhan Omar has been accused of using “ethno-racist rhetoric” by Somaliland Ambassador Rhoda Elmi.
The rebuke followed Ms. Omar’s speech in Minneapolis in which she pledged her support for her native Somalia, though she later insisted her comments were misinterpreted.
Some translations of a video of the speech, which Ms. Omar delivered in Somali, said she was telling Somali Americans that her “Number One job” is to look out for Somalia and that one day, the country will go after other territories to “unify all Somali-speaking people.”
Ms. Elmi said she was “profoundly surprised, even shocked” by the rhetoric from Ms. Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who is part of Congress’ far-left “Squad.”
“The language she employed was regrettably unbecoming of both the office she holds and the constituents she represents,” the ambassador wrote on X. “Her expressions were lacking in common decency and revealed a significant lack of understanding of basic facts.”
Ms. Omar also vented about a recent deal Somalia made with its landlocked neighbor Ethiopia granting access to the coastline.
The ambassador said she found that “specifically troubling,” because similar events “caused so much death, destruction and conflict in the Horn of Africa.”
There have long been territorial disputes between Somalia and Ethiopia.
Ms. Elmi said Ms. Omar’s “use of ethno-racist rhetoric didn’t escape attention and left many, with a deep sense of disappointment.”
“We hope the House leadership and her caucus will take note of her public conduct, unbecoming a United States Congresswoman nor representative of the august House she serves in,” she said.
Ms. Omar, in response to the criticism, said the viral translation of her speech was “not only slanted but completely off, but I wouldn’t expect more from these propagandists.”
“I pray for them and their sanity,” she wrote on X.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said the speech showed Ms. Omar was a “terrorist sympathizer.”
“She flaunts using her position as a congresswoman to protect Somalia’s border while our border is invaded by MILLIONS of illegals who are a danger to America,” Ms. Greene, Georgia Republican, wrote on X. “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.”
Ms. Omar has been called out for her stances before, including most recently the war between Israel and Hamas.