After winning re-election Tuesday, Rep. Ilhan Omar told supporters early Wednesday that Democrats’ strong results nationwide had sent a message to “the bigot in the White House and his friends”: Minnesotans would not be used as pawns.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Omar, calling her “garbage,” a “disaster” and a “disgrace to our country.” He has also told the congresswoman, who became a U.S. citizen in 2000, to “go back” to Somalia.
Omar won more than 76% of the vote, extending her run of decisive victories in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, one of the country’s most reliably Democratic seats. Two federal investigations that became public a little over three weeks before Election Day did not appear to change voters’ support for her.
In her remarks, Omar seemed to refer to Operation Metro Surge, a federal immigration enforcement effort that sent thousands of officers mainly to Minneapolis and St. Paul. The operation faced intense opposition and large protests. Two demonstrators, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed.
“When this administration came for Minnesotans, we knew that we could respond by showing up in the streets and protecting our neighbors,” Omar said. She added that voters had answered at the ballot box by rejecting the administration.
Omar described the federal investigations into whether she fraudulently obtained citizenship and whether her financial disclosures contained discrepancies as efforts to intimidate her and her supporters. She said those behind the inquiries had expected her to back down and her community to be afraid, but that voters turned out anyway.
She pointed to Democratic wins in Senate races in Ohio, Maine and Texas as evidence, she argued, of a backlash to the Trump administration’s policies over the past two years.
Omar closed by echoing Rep. Robert Garcia of California, who said the Trump family should “lawyer up.” Garcia is expected to become chairman of the House Oversight Committee in January. The committee can subpoena witnesses and documents.
“Your time of harassment is over,” Omar said. “It is our time for accountability and transparency.” She added that Democrats would be different from the lawmakers Trump faced in 2019.
