BY USMAN MAMA

In a live interview with CNN anchorwoman Kaitlan Collins yesterday, January 24, Somali-born U.S. Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar who represents Minnesota District 5 had harsh words for members of her party who attended Donald Trump’s inauguration, saying, “I just do not understand why they would attend.”

Citing Trump’s disrespect for his opponents and his actions to dismantle the American democracy, the 42-year-old lawmaker says she saw no reason why people like President Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should attend Trump’s inauguration. “You have to remember, Trump himself did not attend Biden’s inauguration, even though he was the outgoing president that was supposed to, you know, help with that transition. They didn’t have the decency to invite the Bidens to the White House,” Omar lamented. “So just the level of indignity that was shown and disrespect to tradition, to me, said, no one should show him dignity and respect,” the representative of Minnesota District 5 said.

Omar’s criticism of Trump is shared by many of the 75 million Americans who voted for Kamala Harris. To some, January 20 was a sad day that saw a convicted felon who cheated his way to wealth, including defrauding Americans, go to the White House instead of going to prison.

Omar, a Somalian immigrant who only in 2016 became a member of the local House of representatives in the State of Minnesota, made history in 2019 by becoming one of America’s few Muslim female members of Congress after defeating four other Democratic candidates. She is a member of a small group of left-wing coalition of lawmakers in the House of Representatives that goes by the informal name The Squad. Initially composed of four members who won in November 2018, the squad’s members—who are all members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus—quickly became a force to reckon with, as they challenged some long-established norms, including their desire to usher in a younger leadership at the helm of the Democratic party embodied by then-veteran lawmaker, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The group later expanded. Some of the squad’s members are among the most vocal members of the lower chamber, especially Omar and her colleagues Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

Rep. Omar, in particular, clashed multiple times with Donald Trump during his previous term. During a firestorm triggered in March 2019 by Omar’s controversial statements viewed by many as antisemitic, Trump, who is known for having made multiple antisemitic statements, called for Omar’s resignation in a tweet. The congresswoman wasted no time in tweeting back: “You have trafficked in hate your whole life—against Jews, Muslims, Indigenous, immigrants, black people and more. I learned from people impacted by my words. When will you?”

Trump usually goes after his preys repeatedly, but not this time.