Democrats in Congress reacted with shock and anger after President Donald Trump launched another attack on Somali-Americans this week. Many felt that his comments went beyond normal political disagreements and crossed into open hostility toward an entire community living in the United States.
The backlash started when Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he did not want Somali people in the country because, in his words, “they contribute nothing.” His statement spread quickly because it echoed previous remarks he has made about immigrants. According to the Associated Press, Trump’s comments came shortly after a conservative outlet, City Journal, published a piece accusing Somali-Americans in Minnesota of committing fraud. Critics say Trump often picks up these kinds of stories and uses them to generalize about whole groups of people.
On Wednesday, two prominent Democratic lawmakers, Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, spoke exclusively to Raw Story to respond to the president’s comments. Omar, who represents a district in Minnesota with a large Somali population and is Somali-American herself, said that Trump’s comments were not surprising. She called him a “bigoted fool” and said his words show the same pattern of racism, fear-mongering, and Islamophobia that she says he has displayed for years.
Omar explained that the people she represents were not intimidated by Trump’s remarks — many of them were actually laughing at how desperate and irrational he sounded. She said community members were asking each other what was wrong with him, because his comments seemed so random and filled with personal anger. Even reporters in the room where he made the remarks reportedly questioned why he suddenly brought up Somali-Americans out of nowhere.
To Omar, it feels like Trump has developed an unhealthy fixation on her, and that this obsession has extended to Somali-Americans in general. She described it as “deranged and creepy,” saying it makes him look mentally unstable. She added that Trump seems unaware of how much he exposes his own decline whenever he launches these personal attacks.
After Trump spoke out, officials told the Associated Press that the administration began increasing immigration enforcement specifically against Somali-Americans. This raised fears in Somali communities and drew more criticism from Democrats, who said the president was using the power of the government to punish people he doesn’t like.
Ocasio-Cortez also spoke out strongly. She warned that Trump does not seem to understand the legal dangers of what he is doing. She pointed out that elected officials actually have fewer legal protections in cases involving lies, defamation, or targeted harassment. According to her, Trump could be opening himself up to lawsuits because he is constantly making public claims that paint entire communities as criminals or threats without evidence.
She added that the president appears to act first and think later, ignoring the complicated laws surrounding immigration and civil rights. By pushing raids and enforcement actions based on political grudges, she said he may be putting himself and the government at serious legal risk.
Both lawmakers stressed that Somali-Americans contribute greatly to the United States through business, education, public service, and community leadership and that Trump’s attempts to portray them as worthless or dangerous say more about him than about the people he attacks. They said his words only deepen divisions in the country and further reveal his growing instability to the public.
