Fact Check: Did Ilhan Omar marry her brother to get US citizenship?

WASHINGTON, DC: A long-standing rumor that Rep Ilhan Omar married her brother has resurfaced, stirring controversy once again. 

The claim gained more attention after President Donald Trump amplified it, accusing Omar of using the marriage to secure US citizenship, an explosive allegation that has circulated for years but lacks any credible evidence.

Where did rumor about Ilhan Omar marrying brother originate?

As Ilhan Omar has become a frequent target of attacks by President Donald Trump, his allies have intensified their criticism of the congresswoman, who is a naturalized US citizen of Somali descent and a former refugee.

In a recent Truth Social, Trump again referenced the long-circulating allegation that Omar married her brother.

Speaking to reporters before boarding Marine One, he said, “There’s a lot of talk about the fact that she was married to her brother. I know nothing about it.” Several media outlets, including her hometown newspaper, have investigated the claim.

Before diving into the origins of the rumor, it’s important to understand Omar’s marriage history. In 2002, at age 19, Omar entered into a religious marriage with Ahmed Hirsi, though the marriage was not legally registered. The couple had two children before obtaining a religious divorce in 2008.

In 2009, Omar married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi both religiously and legally. They divorced religiously in 2011 but remained legally married. Omar and Hirsi reconciled in 2012 and had a third child. She legally divorced Elmi in 2017 and legally married Hirsi in 2018.

The rumor about Omar marrying her brother began to spread widely in 2016 when conservative website AlphaNewsMN, followed by other ideological sites, shared a screenshot of a now-deleted Instagram post allegedly uploaded by Elmi on June 12, 2012, shortly after Omar gave birth to her third child.

The caption identified Elmi holding the baby girl and referred to her as “nieces.” To some, this post suggested a sibling relationship, fueling the rumor that soon spread across social media.

Fact check: Did Omar marry her brother?

The rumor that Ilhan Omar married her brother has persisted for years, but it remains unconfirmed and surrounded by confusion. Some fact-checking websites have labeled the claim as false, while others have suggested it might be true.

Omar herself addressed the rumor in 2016, categorically denying it as “absolutely false and ridiculous.”

However, she has not publicly commented on the accusation since Trump revived it. Notably, while she denied the claim in 2016, Omar did not provide further documentation to conclusively disprove it.

In a 2018 interview with the Star Tribune, she said, “It’s really strange, right, to prove a negative. … If someone was asking me, do I have a brother by that name, I don’t."

Despite extensive debate surrounding the claim, there is still no definitive evidence to confirm or refute it.

On social media, an X user, @scrowder, host of 'Louder with Crowder,' posted a document supporting the claim, stating, “Ilhan Omar did marry her brother,” and added, “This is simply the truth.”

A commenter on the post noted, “Well, she didn’t deny it.” As a result, the allegation remains an unconfirmed claim with no clear resolution.

Trump slams Ilhan Omar: 'Wasn't she the one who married her brother?'

After Ilhan Omar criticized Republicans for attacking the left over Charlie Kirk’s killing, Trump responded by slamming her and reviving the baseless accusation that she married her brother.

During an interview with Mehdi Hasan on his platform Zeteo, Omar called Republicans “full of s***.” In reaction, Trump took to his social media platform, X, on Thursday, September 18, to post a lengthy critique of Somalia, Omar’s country of origin.

He wrote, “Ilhan Omar’s Country of Somalia is plagued by a lack of central Government control, persistent Poverty, Hunger, Resurgent Terrorism, Piracy, decades of Civil War, Corruption, and pervasive Violence. 70% of the population lives in extreme Poverty, and widespread Food Insecurity.”

Trump went on to emphasize, “Somalia is consistently ranked among the World’s Most Corrupt Countries, including Bribery, Embezzlement, and a Dysfunctional Government. All of this, and Ilhan Omar tells us how to run America! P.S. Wasn’t she the one that married her brother in order to gain Citizenship??? What SCUM we have in our Country, telling us what to do, and how to do it. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

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