NEW YORK — “I am America’s hope and the president’s nightmare,” Minnesota State Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minneapolis) said in an appearance on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah on Thursday night.
The comment came in response to Noah’s comment “you are a refugee, you are from Somalia, you are a Muslim person, you are a woman, you are everything that President [Donald] Trump seems to hate.”
Comedy Central incorrectly identified Omar as a Minnesota congresswoman. In the extended cut, which starts at 17:00, Omar sits down and tells Noah, “before we start, we need to take a selfie.”
Noah and Omar covered a range of topics such as Trump’s alleged hatred towards immigrants and Muslims, to her own personal journey to the United States.
Omar spoke about having survivor’s guilt after returning to Somalia in 2011 to help with the famine. She told Noah that she met a young woman whom she had been friends with, when their families lived in the same refugee camp. The young woman told Omar to “enjoy and understand the privileges you have” as she did not have an education and her children would know no better life.
“I think people forget that is what the Native Americans, the indigenous people of this land felt like when those who don’t want me in this country, were coming to this country, and feeling, you know, proud enough to make America their country,” Omar told the crowd.
Omar extended another invitation to President Trump to visit her and her family to get to know them and drink Somali tea.
Omar, the first female Somali legislator in the United States has been a rising star globally since her run for office in 2016. She faced a scandal when she was accused of immigration fraud. Alpha News investigated allegations that Omar married her brother in order to circumvent the immigration process. Though Omar has brushed off the allegations, questions have remained unanswered.
You can watch Omar’s full interview here.
Preya Samsundar
Preya Samsundar was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. She graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities this Spring with a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology, with a minor in Strategic Communications. Preya has previously worked on several State Campaign Races.
