Omar spoke about Horn of Africa port deal, not loyalty to Somalia over US | Fact check

Nate Trela, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Rep. Ilhan Omar pledged loyalty to Somalia instead of the US

A Jan. 29 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, delivering a speech in Somali to a group in her home state.

“Ilhan Omar pledges loyalty to Somalia and not the US,” reads a caption over the video.

The post was shared more than 200 times in a week.

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Our rating: False

Omar’s speech did not contain a pledge to Somalia over the U.S., according to a translation of her remarks provided by her office as well as multiple published translations by independent parties.

Remarks about response to port deal misrepresented

Omar delivered the speech in question Jan. 27 in Minneapolis during an event to mark an election in Puntland, a region of Somalia. Claims online highlight a section of her speech touching on the response to a port deal between Ethiopia and Somaliland, a breakaway state not recognized by the U.S. or other key Western nations.

Omar said many Somalis had asked her what the U.S. government might do in response to the deal, which could further threaten the stability of Somalia.

“My response was: the U.S. government will do what we ask it to do,” Omar said, according to a translation her office provided to USA TODAY. “We should have this confidence in ourselves as Somalis. We live in this country. We are taxpayers in this country. This country is one where one of your daughters sits in Congress. While I am in Congress, no one will take Somalia’s sea. The United States will not back others to rob us.”

The translation matches one posted on X by Abdirashid Hashi, a former Somali government official who has worked with groups promoting peace in the Horn of Africa and Somalia. It also largely aligns with reports in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota Reformer and PolitiFact, which all independently translated the speech.

“The attacks being lobbed against me are not only completely false, they are rooted in xenophobia and Islamophobia,” Omar said in an email to USA TODAY through a spokesperson. “This is a manufactured controversy based on an inaccurate translation taken entirely out of context.”

Omar went on to "categorically reject these disingenuous attempts to malign my character and question my loyalty to my home, America."

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Flawed translation appears to have been the impetus behind a pair of actions in the House to rebuke Omar for the speech. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, pledged to move for Omar’s censure. And House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota, called for an ethics investigation into Omar over her speech.

Omar has been a frequent focus of misinformation spreading online. USA TODAY has previously debunked claims that she had been expelled from Congress by both fellow Democrats and Republicans, that she was photographed at an al-Qaida training camp and that she was linked to a cash-for-ballots voter fraud scheme.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the claim for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim Omar pledged loyalty to Somalia over US | Fact check