President Trump used a Wednesday Cabinet meeting to launch another broadside against Somali immigrants, declaring flatly that "they're all crooks" and pledging his administration would crack down on the community.
Speaking about fraud enforcement efforts led by Vice President JD Vance, Trump singled out both the Somali population in Minnesota and Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who was born in Somalia. "The Somalians, what they've done to Minnesota, the Somalians, crooked as hell. Ilhan Omar, crooked as hell," he said. "They're all crooks, and we got them, we got them. Now we're putting the clamps on."
The president offered no specifics about what crimes he was alleging against Omar. Her office did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump's comments came as his administration announced additional fraud arrests in Minnesota the week prior. The focus on Somali defendants traces to federal prosecutions related to a major Covid relief fraud scheme that resulted in over $1 billion in fraudulent billings. The Associated Press reported in December that 82 of 92 defendants arrested in those schemes were Somali-Americans, citing data from the Minnesota U.S. attorney's office.
Minnesota is home to roughly 80,000 people of Somali descent, according to Wilder Research, an independent research firm based in St. Paul.
Among recent sentencings was Aimee Bock, who received nearly 42 years in prison for operating a nonprofit at the center of a false billing scheme. Bock is not Somali.
The Wednesday remarks represent the latest in an extended series of attacks Trump has directed at both the congresswoman and the broader Somali community. In December, he described Minnesota as a "hellhole" and called for Somalis to leave the country. "They've destroyed our country. And all they do is complain, complain, complain," he said at that time.
He was even more pointed about Omar personally in those earlier comments, saying she "shouldn't be allowed to be a congresswoman" and that she "should be thrown the hell out of our country." A day before those remarks, he called Omar "garbage" and stated flatly: "I don't want them in our country."
At a campaign event in Florida earlier this month, Trump offered a particularly graphic description of Somalia itself, calling it "filthy, dirty, disgusting" and emphasizing crime and the absence of functioning government institutions.
Omar responded to one of Trump's December attacks on social media, writing: "Your message of bigotry won't work. Somali Americans are here to stay."
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Trump's willingness to make sweeping accusations without evidence, then use a single fraud case as justification for denouncing an entire immigrant community and a sitting congresswoman, reveals how he weaponizes crime statistics to drive a political wedge."
Comments