Why All the Hate for Ilhan Omar?

“Ilhan Omar should be in JAIL, not in OFFICE!”

Ilhan Omar seems to have a lot of haters. Donald Trump is perhaps the loudest hater in the highest office, stating, “She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage”. Yikes.

Knowing nothing about her politics or rise to prominence I wanted to learn why she catches so much shade. First stop is her history. Let’s start in the not-so-distant future, in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Ilhan’s History

Ilhan was born October 4th, 1982 in Mogadishu. She has seven siblings and lost her mom at two years old. After that she was raised by her father and grandfather. When Somali went to war in 1991, her family fled to Kenya where they lived for four years before receiving asylum in 1995. The family settled in Arlington, VA for two years before permanently settling in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis. Omar became a Naturalized Citizen in 2000 at the age of 17.

Ilhan wed her long-time boyfriend Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi in 2001. They went on to have two children, which Ilhan raised while attending school to receive her A.S. in Business Administration. She worked as an instructor while also working toward her B.S., which she graduated with in 2012, receiving her degree in Political Science and International Studies. She split from her first husband, married again, got divorced again, married her first husband again, divorced him again, and then in 2017 she married Tim Mynett. She is still married to Tim in 2026.

She ran for the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2016, beating out the 44-year incumbent for the seat. When Keith Ellison vacated his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Ilhan Omar bid for and won it. She was sworn in in 2019 and has held her seat since then, supporting progressive movements and rocking the boat.

So Much Bullying

At this point, Ilhan Omar is a successful democrat in the U.S. House. Now let’s look into why everyone hates her and if there’s any real reason to. When I saw Ilhan is bullied, I mean she has inspired near pitchfork mob level of hate from the right-wingers out there.

Legend has it the Ilhan Omar once married her own brother. Yeah, you read that right. The source of the rumor seems to be…sigh…Donald Trump. Such a classy guy. He claimed that she married her brother to get to the U.S.

According to MPR, there is absolutely no evidence that she even married her brother. Since Ilhan Omar came to the U.S. as a young teenager, how can he possibly think she married ANYONE to gain entry into the U.S.? In Ilhan’s own words, “Insinuations that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi is my brother are absurd and offensive”.

Another commonly thrown around joke centers on bananas and rice. This comes from another Muslim woman, who said her culture isn’t “just about bananas and rice”, which is a dish commonly enjoyed by Somali people. It seems that either people are just racist assholes, OR they can’t tell Somali people apart. Either way, gross.

Now onto her alleged crimes. ALLEGED.

In a paywalled New York Times post, they discuss how a case was opened in 2024 to examine Ilhan Omar’s personal finances and campaign spending. The paywall isn’t a problem, because the TL;DR version is in the headline: “The inquiry, initiated by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, appears to have stalled for lack of evidence”.

Trump has recently talked a big game about having the DOJ investigate her further; something he has yet to do. In a January 26 post, the Federal News Network said this in an article:

She has been a U.S. citizen for 25 years, but her acquisition of wealth has been exponential since she was elected to Congress. While this is true for many politicians, she already has the president’s attention, so it is no surprise that he is willing to post combative messages about her on his social media platform and order the DOJ to scrutinize her finances.

Considering what is happening in Minnesota, it is extremely unlikely that Trump will go beyond threats and compel the DOJ to charge Rep. Omar. There are other, more stationary targets, and the Minnesota protests show no sign of slowing. While the North Star State is the center of attention, the last thing Trump needs is an indictment of a Minnesota Congresswoman to add to the chaos.

Another incident of note was when Ilhan Omar was rushed by a man who sprayed her with Apple Cider Vinegar. Omar responded by squaring up and bring her firsts up. Like a G.

President Trump states after the incident, “She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her,”. MAGA picked up that message and spread it like lice in the Preschool. Claims that she staged the incident went wild, despite the Federal Courts charging her attacker with a crime. There is no evidence of that attack being staged. Family members of her attacker confirmed his outright hatred for her and his right-wing extremist history.

In short, Ilhan Omar has not been tried for or convicted of any crimes. The claim that she married her brother is ri-god-damn-diculous, as is the claim that the attack on her was staged.

So, Why the Hate??

Here’s what I think. Ilhan is a loud, beautiful, gifted young Black Muslim politician. There’s nothing people like Trump hate more than ALL of that. She’s fighting an uphill battle with her Religion. She’s fighting an uphill battle because she’s Black. She’s fighting an uphill battle because she’s a woman. Last, she’s fighting an uphill battle as a Democrat in a Republican Administration. If I missed anything about her history, please let me know!

Hope you enjoyed this little lesson on Ilhan Omar! I for one am proud of the life she’s earned for herself. She went from a literal refugee camp to the U.S. House of Representatives, and that’s about the best example she can set for young women to look up to.

Thanks for reading!