Ilhan Omar: ‘It Seems Like These People Seem to Have a Problem with the Fact that I Am Living the American Dream’

EXCERPT:

OMAR: “And clearly, that investigation hasn‘t moved on because they don‘t have evidence of wrongdoing. And so I know that there‘s always been an attempt to smear my character, to smear the character of the community that ethnically I belong to. There‘s always this sort of sad reference to the fact that I‘m a refugee. It seems like these people seem to have a problem with the fact that I am living the American dream. Yes, I was once a refugee. Yes, I did survive war. Yes, I did come to the United States when I was 12 years old, not speaking English, but I did make it to the United States of Congress representing our country, helping write the laws of this country and helping appropriate the resources that are utilized by all Americans. So, yes, that is the American dream. They do not believe that the American dream is possible. And I think the fact that I‘m a visible representation of that American dream pisses them off."