Viral Ilhan Omar Speech That Sparked Fury on Right Reportedly a Total Mistranslation
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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) caught the ire of several Republicans and conservatives after giving a speech in Minneapolis on Saturday, with many blaming her for expressing her allegiance to her birthplace of Somalia over the United States. But a new translation of her speech, which was delivered in Somali, shows that she never said that.
Semafor’s Ben Smith dropped a tip on Twitter/X that the Minnesota Reformer — an independent local news outlet — did its own translation of Omar’s speech using two translators, including by “a federally certified court interpreter.” And what Omar has been accused of saying is a complete misinterpretation of her actual, translated words.
Widely circulated versions of the English translation of Omar’s speech claim that she referred to “people who know they are Somalians first, Muslims second.”
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) was one of the main dissenting voices who called on Omar to “resign in disgrace” over her “appalling, Somalia-first comments” that were not just a “slap in the face” to her constituents, but “a direct violation of her oath of office.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) called for Omar to be deported and expelled from Congress.
But there are problems with that translation: it’s not accurate.
For one thing, people from Somalia refer to themselves as Somalis, not “Somalians.” For another, here is the translation provided by the Reformer:
We Somalis are people who love each other. It’s possible that we might sometimes have disagreements but we are also people who can rely on each other. We are people who are siblings. We are people with courage. We are people who know that they are Somali and Muslim. We are people who support each other.
The Reformer article also notes that “[a] devout Muslim like Omar would have faced outrage from the largely Muslim audience had she placed her religion second, according to one translator.”
In an email to the Reformer in response to Emmer’s comments, Omar called his attacks “disingenuous attempts to malign my character and question my loyalty to my home, America,” adding, “I am embarrassed for Tom. This is clearly a desperate attempt to garner attention after his failed four-hour Speaker bid last year.”
Emmer did not respond to the Reformer’s requests for comment.
