Mara Eliasson
๐ค SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Yes, I think even by Trump's standards of nativism and xenophobia, these attacks were pretty harsh.
You know, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has been one of Trump's favorite targets for quite some time.
He belittled her on social media recently, saying she's, quote, always wrapped in her swaddling hijab.
He's told her to go back where she came from, even though she's an American citizen.
And this does come, as you say, at a time when there's this big financial scandal in Minnesota.
Federal prosecutors have convicted or indicted dozens of people
for defrauding social services funding totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Minnesota Public Radio.
Most of those convicted are of Somali descent.
The vast majority of Somalis in the Minneapolis region are U.S.
citizens.
But the situation has provided the chance for Trump to attack Omar and the entire Somali community.
And here's what he said.
I think this has been a tried and true tactic for him over the last 10 years, these nativist attacks.
I think they attract attention.
They can distract from problems he's having.
He denigrated Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals during the 2024 campaign.
He and J.D.
Vance
repeated false rumors that Haitian immigrants were eating cats and dogs?
I think that's right.