Obama backs Ilhan Omar amid probe, accuses Trump admin of 'appalling' targeting in lengthy statement

Former President Barack Obama has publicly defended Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, saying the Trump administration is using federal power against a critic. In a Sunday post on X, he argued that officials are trying to take away her citizenship and deport her because she has spoken out against President Donald Trump, and he warned that this could set a dangerous precedent, according to Fox News.

The statement follows a search by federal agents of Omar's home in Washington, D.C., as part of a criminal inquiry into her immigration status. Fox News Digital reports, citing sources, that investigators are looking at whether she or her father made false statements on documents tied to her naturalization years ago. Omar denies allegations of immigration fraud.

Obama laid out his account of her path to citizenship: she came to the United States with her father at age 12 and became a citizen automatically at 17, when her father was naturalized. He said investigators are relying on an unproven theory that she was really 18, which would have meant she needed to file her own application. Obama wrote that the government's full weight is falling on a lawful elected official for criticizing the president.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →