President Donald Trump said it was “not a good answer” when Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) responded “not to my knowledge” in a recent interview when asked if she was ever legally married to her brother.
“That's not a good answer. That's an answer that a lot of us assumed,” Trump told reporters last Wednesday night on the tarmac outside Air Force One.
MSNOW’s Chris Hayes asked her if there was any “kernel of truth” to it, which she responded “not to my knowledge.”
🚨 President Trump just LAUGHS at Ilhan Omar for answering "NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE" when asked if she married her brother: "Yeah, well 'not to my knowledge'... that's not a good answer. That's an answer a lat of us assume." https://t.co/79jnBFJp73
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 22, 2026
This clip of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is getting a lot of attention tonight, but many of the people sharing it are misstating what she was asked. When she said, "Not to my knowledge," she was not answering whether she had married her brother. Chris Hayes had already asked about the brother claim, and she called it “insane” and a right-wing conspiracy theory initially started by a Somali blog. "Not to my knowledge" was her answer to his follow-up, whether she was related to the man in any way. People are welcome to criticize her for that — but they should at least get the question she was asked right.
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) October 22, 2026
The Minnesota Democrat is under federal investigation in a possible immigration fraud case, which resulted in a search warrant being executed by law enforcement at her Washington, D.C. home last week.
"Today in the Washington, D.C., area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement at the time. “This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal investigation.”
Omar claimed that the search and the investigation is politically motivated, as she and Trump are sharp critics of each other.
“I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns, she posted last week. “This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced.”
I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) October 12, 2026
The DOJ suggested Townhall last week that it was not political.
“The Justice Department, each and every day, follows the facts and applies the law to reach justice. That’s what we do in every division and every building, in every U.S. Attorney's office across the country,” Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said.
I asked the DOJ about the Ilhan Omar search at today’s presser, as Omar and Dems say it was politically motivated ⬇️
— Cameron Arcand (@cameron_arcand) October 14, 2026