From Fox News: During a Wednesday interview on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., appeared to struggle to explain how fraud became “so out of control” in Minnesota after federal officials announced an investigation into an alleged Somali fraud network operating in the state.
After being pressed by Tapper to explain how fraud became so rampant within her state, the congresswoman gave a meandering response, attributing the problem to inadequate “guardrails” for COVID relief funds that were subsequently exploited.
“I think what happened, um, is that, you know, when you have these, kind of new programs that are, um, designed to help people, you’re oftentimes relying on third parties to be able to facilitate. And I just think that a lot of the COVID programs that were set up — they were set up so quickly that a lot of the guardrails did not get created,” Omar told the host.
Omar offered no condemnation of the massive fraud schemes or those who have been indicted for stealing billions in taxpayer dollars.
🚨#BREAKING: Minnesota’s fraud queen is sweating.
Ilhan Omar is suddenly ‘humbled’ and blaming the system for a billion-dollar Somali fraud ring?
Please.She knows this investigation is about to blow the lid off the criminal empire she’s been running cover for
🍿👀🍿 pic.twitter.com/A6cE8egIIw
— Brandon Tatum (@TheOfficerTatum) December 4, 2025
Tapper then pivoted to comments made by President Donald Trump in the Oval Office this week, as he hotly condemned the fraud schemes and the indicted Somalians.
Although she did not voice any outrage over the fraud, Omar, herself a Somalian refugee, then launched into a tirade against President Trump.
“I’m not shocked, because we know that the president oftentimes resorts to very bigoted, xenophobic, Islamophobic, racist rhetoric when he is trying to scapegoat and deflect from the actual failures that he has himself,” Omar sneered.
“We know that this administration has not fulfilled the majority of the promises that they’ve made, whether it is bringing costs down, whether it is the tariffs that are decimating businesses in the United States, whether it is the possible war crimes that his defense secretary is committing,” she continued.
Defiantly, she added, “And so, to me, it is important for us, one, to remind folks that we are Americans. We’re not going anywhere, and we will continue to be in this country. And two, that Minnesotans are resilient, and we will continue to thrive.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar responds to Trump’s attacks: He’s trying to ‘deflect’ from his ‘failures’
Watch the full video: https://t.co/v0DRknaiiC pic.twitter.com/bpZ0KxMxLf— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) December 4, 2025
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