Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., fired back at President Donald Trump on Wednesday over his recent sharp comments about Somali migrants, calling him "creepy."
During an interview with MS NOW host Ana Cabrera, Omar said Trump's statements prove he is obsessed with her and her fellow Somali-Americans, adding he made them to distract from the failures of his administration.
"I would say the president's obsession with me and the Somali community is really unhealthy. It's creepy. And I hope that he gets the help that he needs. It sounds like he is trying to deflect from the failures that he's had as president," she said.
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Trump called Omar "garbage" during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, accusing her and fellow Somali migrants to the U.S. of coming into the country and offering nothing but complaints.
"We could go one way or the other, and we're going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country," Trump said. "She's garbage. Her friends are garbage. These aren't people who work. These aren't people who say, 'Let's go, come on, let's make this place great.'"
Elsewhere during the meeting, Trump said, "When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but b----, we don't want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it."
Trump's remarks came after reports of multiple people in Minnesota's Somali community being charged by the Justice Department for a pandemic-era fraud scheme that resulted in $250 million being stolen from a federally funded child-nutrition program in the state.
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Omar first responded to Trump's comments on X, writing, "His obsession with me is creepy. I hope he gets the help he desperately needs."
She echoed the sentiment during her MS NOW appearance, pointing to multiple policies she claims Trump is trying to distract from with his comments.
"His immigration rates are not going in the way that he's expected. We know that the tariffs are not working to make life affordable for Americans. We know that he is afraid of what is in the Epstein files, as he's fought to be the head of the pedophile protection party," she said.
"And we know that right now he is being investigated for war crimes that he might have committed when he ordered what seems to be illegal attacks against boats in the Caribbean," she added.
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Later, Cabrera invited Omar to address Trump directly.
The lawmaker said, "I would say your message of bigotry is not working. Your intimidations are not going to work on the Somali community who have survived so much. And I would say that his deflection and scapegoating is also not going to work."
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson criticized Omar, telling Fox News Digital, "President Trump is absolutely right to highlight the problems caused by the radical Somali migrants that the Democrats let invade our country and steal from American taxpayers. For example, Tim Walz has allowed Somali refugees to turn Minnesota into a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity to fund lavish lifestyles overseas at the expense of American taxpayers. While the media and Democrats feign outrage, Americans who have suffered at the hands of these schemes will celebrate the President's comments and strong support for AMERICAN citizens."
