Republican conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene denounced far-left Rep. Ilhan Omar as a “foreign agent” on Thursday, saying she wanted to deport the congresswoman for apparently putting Somali interests above U.S. interests.
In a video on the social media platform She is acting as a foreign agent within our government.”
It comes amid a right-wing backlash against Omar over comments she made to a Somali-American audience in which she said she would do everything in her power to prevent the breakaway republic of Somaliland from allowing landlocked Ethiopia to use its coastline.
In a call for unity, she apparently said: “We as Somalis love each other.
“There are areas of friction that have driven us to kill each other, but in reality we are an organized society, brothers and sisters, people of the same blood, people who know that they are Somalis first and foremost, and Somalis second Muslims.’
Republican conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene denounced far-left Rep. Ilhan Omar as a “foreign agent” on Thursday, saying she wanted to deport the congresswoman for apparently putting Somali interests above U.S. interests.
A clip with subtitles went viral, but Omar said its meaning was distorted.
Still, several Republicans have said they want to deport the congresswoman to her native country.
“Today I filed a censure resolution against Ilhan Omar,” Greene said. “And the reason why I did this… and I’ll just say this: the censure doesn’t go far enough.
“If it were up to me, we would deport Ilhan Omar and deport the United States.”
Greene portrayed Omar’s comments as part of a pattern of Democrats operating in the interests of foreign countries, including the debunked theory that Joe Biden’s family benefited from the firing of a prosecutor in Ukraine.
“I’m telling you now that she is acting as a foreign agent on behalf of a foreign country. Our country is being taken over from within. She is not alone,” she said.
“Look at Joe Biden. We’re investigating Joe Biden because his family paid millions of dollars. For him, he acts in the interests of other countries. And it makes him rich.
‘We are talking about Ukraine and Burisma. He got prosecutor Viktor Shokin fired in Ukraine and his family got millions of dollars for it.”
Although then-Vice President Joe Biden pushed for the removal of Ukraine’s top prosecutor, there is actually no evidence that his family benefited from it. In effect, Biden implemented the policies of the Obama administration, working with other Western countries that believed Shokin was an obstacle to rooting out corruption.
Omar is the first Somali-American in Congress and has long been a target of the right for her progressive politics.
“We are an organized society, brothers and sisters, people of the same blood, people who know first of all that they are Somalis, and secondly Muslims, who protect each other,” Omar said, according to a widely circulated translation of an excerpt in which she spoke. in Somali
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who dropped out of the 2024 presidential race last month, denounced her comments.
“Expel from Congress, denaturalize and deport,” he posted on X.
Former President Donald Trump’s son condemned her comments.
And House Republican whip Tom Emmer called an ethical investigation into her ‘terrible’ rhetoric.
Her comments came on January 27 during a speech to voters alarmed by geopolitical developments in Somalia. Ethiopia and Somaliland have reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding that will allow the Ethiopian government to build a naval base and commercial port on the coast.
But it raised fears that the deal represents recognition of Somaliland as an independent state, paving the way for more Somali regions to secede.
Analysts have warned that this raises the real prospect of further war in the Horn of Africa.
The viral translation was made by a Somaliland official. In an alternative translation of her comments, which Omar preferred, she described how she would use her position to protect Somalia.
Somaliland Ambassador Rhoda Elmi reposted the video of Omar’s speech on X and released a lengthy statement calling the comments “sadly inappropriate.”
DeSantis posted Omar’s video on X Tuesday morning, demanding she be expelled from Congress, denaturalized and deported
“This country is a country where one of your daughters is in Congress,” she said. “As long as I’m in Congress, no one will take the Somali Sea.
“The United States will not support others to rob us. So don’t lose sleep over that, O Minnesotans. The lady who sent you to Congress is working on this, and she is as aware of this interest as you are.”
In this version she is not talking about ‘Somalis first’.
“We are sisters and brothers, who support each other, people who know that they are Somalis and Muslims, who come to each other’s aid and help their brothers and sisters,” reads the translation by analyst Abdirashid Hashi.
Rep. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries accused Greene of wasting everyone’s time.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the leaders of the extreme MAGA Republicans currently speaking, is not trying to solve a problem for the American people, but is trying to reintroduce a frivolous censure resolution designed to set us on fire and to inflame, denounce and further divide,” he said.
“Don’t we have enough division in America right now? Don’t we have enough challenges that we need to solve together?’