Several major news outlets have falsely reported that the Somaliland government called for the extradition of U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, basing their stories on a post from an X account that does not represent the state despite its claims. The @RepOfSomaliland account, which Somaliland's Foreign Ministry had previously disavowed as unofficial in December, posted a reaction to allegations by JD Vance that Omar had committed immigration fraud – claims the Somali-born Minnesota Democrat has consistently denied.
Fox News, the New York Post, Sinclair Broadcast Group's National News Desk, and the Independent all ran stories amplifying the unverified claim. The reports centered on Vance's accusations during a March 28 interview with conservative influencer Benny Johnson, where the vice-presidential candidate allegedly stated Omar had "definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America" and claimed to have discussed legal remedies with White House immigration adviser Stephen Miller.
In a statement to The Guardian, Somaliland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised: "We kindly advise that any news or statements be referenced solely from official and authorized channels to ensure the accuracy and reliability of information." Fox News later issued a quiet correction, acknowledging the account was not a verified government outlet and revising its headline to: "Pro-Somaliland account backs extraditing Ilhan Omar after Vance fraud claim."
Omar's chief of staff, Connor McNutt, dismissed Vance's accusations as "a ridiculous lie and desperate attempt to distract," pointedly referencing Vance's past admission that he was willing to "create stories" to redirect media attention. This incident marks another episode in a pattern of viral misinformation targeting Omar with Somali connections – in early 2024, a mistranslated clip from a Minneapolis speech spread rapidly online with right-wing figures falsely accusing her of declaring herself "Somalian first."
The false reports spread against a backdrop of escalating rhetoric from the White House targeting Minnesota's Somali community and Somalia itself. Days before Vance's interview, Trump described Somalia as a "crooked, disgusting country," followed by boasting of getting Minnesota "back from Somalia." The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned these remarks, with Executive Director Jaylani Hussein warning that portraying an entire people as intellectually inferior "is not just political rhetoric – it is dehumanization."
Omar, who arrived in the U.S. as a 12-year-old refugee and became a citizen at 17, warned in a December Guardian interview that Trump's rhetoric was fueling a climate of political violence with real consequences. "We've had people incarcerated for threatening to kill me," she said, adding that her concern extended from herself to anyone "who looks like me in Minneapolis." In January, a man sprayed Omar with liquid from a syringe during a Minneapolis town hall, hours after Trump had again targeted her with xenophobic remarks, leading to federal assault charges against 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak.
Source: www.theguardian.com