JD Vance accused Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) of having “definitely committed immigration fraud” and said that he’d recently spoken with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller about how best to “go after her.”
Speaking on a podcast hosted by MAGA influencer Benny Johnson on Friday, Vance was asked about claims that Omar had defrauded the United States by marrying her brother to secure his legal residency.
The unsubstantiated claim has circulated in MAGA circles for years but has been denied by Omar multiple times. The congresswoman was born in Somalia but moved to Minneapolis with her family in 1997, fleeing the civil war.



I went to school for Anthropology. I know not to make assumptions about cultures. I’m not making an assumption about members of caste systems today, but what it was like and what some continues to be like. And there is absolutely no way she isn’t racist or hates the low class if she can still stand by her husband. It’s not like it was an arranged marriage. She picked him, she can leave him.
It’s like looking at a white guy who’s racist and saying, yep, it’s because he comes from a long line of racists. It’s as simple as that.
If only going to school in anthropology meant you were knowledgeable in every culture.
You clearly made an assumption about her worldview based on her caste. It’s no different than you looking at another person and assuming how they think based on their race.
If you want to judge her based on her words and actions I welcome that. If you’re going to make assumptions based on immutable characteristics then you are engaging in bigotry, anthropology degree or not.
My personal standard is to not tolerate “these people are like this because they were born that way” no matter where it comes from. You shouldn’t tolerate it either.
I’m more than happy to inform you on India’s varna/jati system, how it became codified due to colonial administration, what has been done to mitigate its institutionalization and how it persists today since your anthropology degree clearly fell short of that.
We’re just gonna have to agree to disagree.