Elon Musk has sparked a huge online firestorm after posting a tweet that many people are calling explosive, controversial, and deeply divisive. The billionaire tech boss claimed that Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar is connected to fraud, pointing to a dramatic jump in her husband’s wealth and suggesting, without evidence, that something suspicious is going on.
The tweet came from Elon Musk’s X account and was based on a Fox News clip originally shared by comedian Tim Young. In the clip, Fox host Will Cain discussed financial disclosures linked to Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett. Musk added his own sharp commentary, saying it was shocking that Mynett appeared to go from being worth about $51,000 in 2023 to more than $30 million today. He then made a highly provocative remark suggesting that Omar’s denial of being a millionaire did not add up and hinted at “Somali daycare money,” a phrase that immediately raised alarm bells.
Within hours, the post had exploded across the platform, pulling in millions of views, thousands of likes, and an avalanche of replies. Supporters of Musk demanded investigations and arrests, while critics accused him of spreading reckless claims and inflaming ethnic and political tensions. What might have started as a social media post quickly turned into a full-blown political argument.
The Fox News segment Musk referenced aired on Fox & Friends and focused on recent financial disclosure estimates connected to Mynett’s business interests. According to those estimates, assets tied to Mynett’s ventures could be valued anywhere from around $6 million to as much as $30 million in 2025. That is a massive leap from figures reported just a couple of years earlier, when some assets were listed as being worth as little as $1 to $1,000. While such disclosures often use broad ranges and do not always reflect liquid cash, the size of the increase immediately raised eyebrows.
Ilhan Omar has strongly rejected similar accusations before. In a February 2025 interview with Business Insider, she said claims that she personally is a millionaire are completely false and part of what she described as a coordinated disinformation campaign designed to damage her reputation. She has consistently maintained that her finances are transparent and that her congressional income, roughly $174,000 a year, is modest compared to the figures being discussed online.
Musk’s reference to “Somali daycare money” appeared to point toward the Feeding Our Future scandal, a major Minnesota case in which federal prosecutors charged dozens of people with stealing more than $250 million from child nutrition programs meant to feed low-income children. The scandal rocked the state and deeply affected Somali-American communities. Although Omar has not been charged or accused by prosecutors in that case, the phrase used by Musk was widely criticized as a dog whistle that links her ethnicity to criminal activity.
Digging deeper into the background, Tim Mynett is a political consultant who married Omar in 2020 after both divorced their previous spouses. He later became involved in venture investments through his firm, Rose Lake Capital. Very little public detail is available about how the firm operates or where its major gains came from. As scrutiny increased, reports noted that officer information was quietly removed from the company’s website, which only added to suspicion among critics.
Omar’s campaign has also faced questions in the past over payments to consulting firms. Since 2018, her campaign paid more than $2.8 million to E Street Group, a company where Mynett previously worked, for digital and consulting services. These payments were legal and disclosed, and no charges were filed, but opponents have long argued that they look improper. Omar has repeatedly said the transactions followed campaign finance rules and were reviewed at the time.
This latest controversy has also revived older allegations. In 2019, a relative of Omar’s former husband accused her of immigration fraud related to her marriage history, claims she denied and which never resulted in criminal charges. Complaints were also filed with election authorities over campaign spending, but again, no prosecution followed. Musk’s tweet has dragged all of this history back into the spotlight.
The political reaction has been intense. Some Republicans quickly amplified the story, including retweets from figures like JD Vance, while many Democrats and progressive voices defended Omar. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has so far stayed silent. Online, the comment section has been especially ugly, with some users calling for Omar’s arrest or deportation, while others pushed back hard.
One notable response came from Brian Krassenstein, who mocked the logic behind Musk’s accusation. He pointed out that if marrying a wealthy person automatically made someone guilty of fraud, then Musk himself would be in trouble if his partner’s net worth suddenly soared. Others made similar comparisons, asking why massive wealth jumps are questioned for some politicians but ignored for figures like Donald Trump.
Progressive users described Musk’s post as racist and sexist, arguing that it unfairly targets a Muslim woman of color and plays into harmful stereotypes. Supporters of Musk, on the other hand, insist that the size and speed of the wealth increase deserve closer examination and that public officials should expect intense scrutiny.
As the argument continues to rage online, there is talk that House Republicans may push for an ethics review or further investigation. Whether that actually happens is unclear, especially given narrow margins and the lack of concrete evidence presented so far. Omar remains a strong and vocal critic of Trump and his allies, which suggests this clash with Musk may not fade quickly.
For now, what is certain is that one tweet has reignited old controversies, deepened political divisions, and once again shown how quickly accusations can spread and harden in the age of social media.
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