Overview
- At a Pennsylvania event billed as an economic speech, President Trump mocked Rep. Ilhan Omar, mischaracterized her hijab as a turban, and told supporters she should be thrown out of the country as the crowd chanted “send her back.”
- Trump embraced his past reference to “shithole countries,” called Somalia “filthy” and “disgusting,” and touted a pause on migration from what he labeled “hellholes” including Somalia, Afghanistan and Haiti.
- He repeated the long-disputed claim that Omar married her brother to gain U.S. entry; Omar has denied the allegation, and outlets describe it as unproven.
- Omar responded that Trump’s fixation is “beyond weird” and called him a national embarrassment, while a White House spokeswoman defended keeping out migrants who “fail to contribute” and “refuse to assimilate.”
- Local reports say federal agents have been conducting immigration operations in the Twin Cities that are affecting Somali residents, as prosecutors in Minnesota continue charging dozens in large fraud cases cited by the administration as rationale.