Dec. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) filed a resolution Thursday seeking to impeach Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), accusing the Somali-American congresswoman of making “treasonous statements” and “revealing that she is a foreign agent acting for account of a foreign government,” through its support of the Somali community.
There's just one problem: Omar didn't actually make the statements Green cited in her motion. Greene's is what appears to be a gross mistranslation of a speech Omar gave at an event in Minneapolis — home to a large Somali immigrant population — on Saturday. Despite their inaccuracy, the alleged quotes have sparked calls for Omar to be fired from the government and (despite being an American citizen) deported.
ONE video of the speech, which Omar delivered to Somalia, along with the mistranslations, went viral on social media over the weekend. It was quickly picked up by right-wing commentators and news outlets who were outraged by Omar's alleged statements without bothering to verify the translation.
In the talk, Omar discussed a recent Ethiopian agreement with the breakaway region of Somaliland, which Somalia considers part of its own territory. Omar's opposition to the deal directly aligns with the stated position of the US government, which said Ethiopia's invasion of Somaliland could potentially destabilize the Horn of Africa. Regardless, Omar was accused of improperly supporting the nation of her birth.
“The US government will only do what the Somalis in the US tell them! They will do whatever we want and nothing else,” read the mistranslation Green cited. “They have to follow our orders and that's how we will safeguard Somalia's interests.”
“As long as I am in the US Congress, Somalia will never be in danger, its waters will not be stolen by Ethiopia or others. Sleep easy knowing that I am here to protect Somalia's interests from within the US system,” reads another part of the flawed text.
The translation also claimed that Omar had stated that “we are an organized society, brothers and sisters, people of the same blood, people who know they are Somalis first, Muslims second, protecting each other.”
In her speech Thursday, Greene introduced the resolution with a pointed jab at Omar. “Somalia Impeachment Representative Ilhan Omar — I mean — Minnesota,” Green said, before reading the text of the document. “I urge my colleagues to vote for censure, but I wish I had the votes to impeach and expel her,” Green said. a video posted on Thursday.
Omar herself he said on Sunday to X, formerly of Twitter, that the translation was “not only skewed, but completely unclear, but I wouldn't expect more from these propagandists.” The MP I was referring to multiple more accurate interpretations were already circulating on social media as the controversy began to grow.
The difference is stark.
Omar had not put her Somali roots above her Muslim faith, had not war-cryed against the federal government to support Somali interests, and had not—as many Republicans charged—declared Somalia first and America second. In fact, the speech was no different from speeches regularly given by lawmakers from immigrant backgrounds or from areas with immigrant and minority populations.
On Wednesday, the Star Tribune found that the translation of the viral video differed significantly from another translation that Omar had promoted on social media as more accurate. On Thursday, hours before Green read her resolution on the House floor, Minnesota Reform posted a full transcript of Omar's speech based on translations provided by two independent translators, one of whom is a federally certified court interpreter. Here it is in full:
We Somalis are people who love each other. We may have disagreements at times, but we are also people who can rely on each other. We are people who are brothers. We are people of courage. We are people who know they are Somali and Muslim. We are people who support each other.
So when I heard that people who call themselves Somalis signed an agreement with Ethiopia, many people contacted me and said that I should talk to the US government. They asked, what would the US government do? My response was that the US government will do what we tell the US government to do. This is the confidence we should have as Somalis. We live in this country. This is the country where we pay taxes. This is the country that has elected a woman from your community. As long as I am in Congress, no one will seize the seas that belong to the nation of Somalia, and the United States will not support others who seek to steal from us. So take comfort Somali Minnesotans that the woman you sent to Congress knows this issue and feels the same way you do.
I want to tell President Hassan Sheikh that we are happy for the great work you have done. We are glad that you have made the people of Somalia and those living everywhere feel that no matter how difficult our current situation is, we are people who have strength and believe in their country.
I want to congratulate Somalis living in Minnesota and elsewhere who are united, who stand by our president because he needs our support. Somalia is Somali. Somalia is one. We are siblings. Our land will not be divided. God willing we will seek to return the missing territory and not allow the territory we have now to be divided.
I want to thank you for how you welcomed me. Peace be upon you.
Regardless of early indications that he had suffered serious misreporting, he was widely accused by Republicans of putting the interests of Somalia above those of American citizens. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) called for the House Majority Whip an investigation of ethics to Omar's alleged “shocking comments expressing loyalty to Somalia's interests”.
“Ilhan Omar's disgusting, first-hand comments about Somalia are a slap in the face to the Minnesotans she was elected to serve and a direct violation of her oath of office. He should resign in disgrace,” Emer added in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSandis gave his two cents on X. “Expulsion from Congress, Denaturalization and Deportation,” the failed the presidential candidate wrote.
There wasn't much to apologize to Omar. The MP he wrote on Wednesday that “unfortunately in our country we can't sue people for defamation because we're public servants,” but that she remains “certain that the people I represent will never fall for the lies that are out there to defame me. They know who I represent and why I fight hard for Minnesotans even though they sent me to Congress.”
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/ilhan-omar-attacked-deportation-calls-mistranslated-speech-1234959112/