Obama backs Ilhan Omar as White House denies targeting political foes
The former president called the federal probe into the congresswoman appalling. The White House denied using the Justice Department against opponents.
Archive image · Photo: Kristie Boyd; U.S. House Office of Photography / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
Former U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday issued a lengthy statement on X backing Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, accusing President Donald Trump's administration of targeting a critic. "The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official," he wrote, saying it "should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar's political views." "Because if this becomes the new normal, there's no reason to believe it will stop with her," Obama added.
Federal agents searched Omar's Washington home last Monday. According to Axios, investigators are examining whether Omar or her late father gave false information on immigration paperwork 26 years ago. Omar arrived from Somalia as a child in 1995 and, records indicate, became a citizen in 2000 at 17 through her father's naturalization; investigators are seeking evidence she was a year older. The Wall Street Journal reported the administration aims to strip her of her citizenship. Omar has called the allegation "disgusting lies."
The White House pushed back. "Unlike Joe Biden, President Trump has not weaponized the Department of Justice against his political foes," spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital. Trump has said the matter is up to the Justice Department. The dispute comes in the final weeks before the midterm elections; Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed in the past that Obama was not a U.S. citizen.