Sometimes one word says it all. Rep. Ilhan Omar, the Somali refugee who now represents her Minnesota constituents as a first-term Democrat in the United States Congress, is learning that lesson the hard way after a fellow refugee seeking to challenge her posted a brutal response to Omar’s tweet.
On Twitter, Rep. Omar listed six ways she describes herself – as “Hijabi, Muslim, Black, Foreign born, Refugee, Somali.”
However, one crucial word was missing in her list — an omission picked up on by Dalia al-Aqidi, a Republican contender for the nomination to run against Rep. Omar in the fall.
Al-Aqidi pointed it out in an eloquent response. “I am an American,” she tweeted.
“That’s why I’m running for Congress.”
Al-Aqidi could have chosen many other ways to describe herself.
As previously reported by The Daily Wire, al-Aquidi is part of a family that fled to the freedom of the United States from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in 1988.
Her campaign website notes that after becoming a citizen with the rest of her family, she pursued a career in journalism, including stints as a correspondent with Voice of America as well as other American and Middle Eastern news outlets.
But she chose the word “American” – a declaration of nationality that sums up the world of difference between her and the current incumbent of Minnesota Congressional District 5, which covers Minneapolis and some surrounding areas.
“Dalia and Omar come from similar backgrounds — they both fled their countries as refugees and came to America to pursue opportunity available nowhere else in the world,” al-Aqidi’s website states.
“The difference is that while Dalia has used her life experience to expose oppression and boost the U.S., Omar has done the opposite — stoking fear, inspiring hatred, inciting violence, and embarrassing the U.S. Minnesota needs and deserves better.”
According to Fox News, al-Aqidi is one of five Republicans seeking to take on Omar in November, so it’s not yet established that she’s going to be the GOP candidate.
