Facing renewed political and media attention, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar brushed off questions about her citizenship and personal relationships with a joke that she and streamer Hasan Piker simply “look good” on camera.
The Minnesota Democrat made the comment during a livestream conversation with the left-wing commentator, shortly before an event organized by state lawmaker Omar Fateh.
During the discussion, Piker questioned why the media appeared to focus so heavily on their activities.
“Some of the things I do, like — we’re just normal Americans trying to go about our day-to-day and trying to organize against the Trump administration in the same way that, you know, white people are doing in general,” Piker said. “Why is that?”
Omar responded with a laugh: “We just look really good on their screens.”
Her remarks came as the Minnesota representative faces fresh scrutiny linked to a broad Department of Justice investigation into questions surrounding her citizenship.
The Somalia-born Democrat became a US citizen through her father in 2000.
Federal authorities are reportedly examining whether her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, listed her as 17 rather than 18 on citizenship-related paperwork.
Ilhan Omar joked during her Monday conversation with Hasan Piker that renewed media attention may be tied to the fact that they “look good” on screen. Source: HasanAbi/Twitch
Federal investigators are examining allegations related to Omar’s path to US citizenship. Homeland Security Investigations officers are pictured outside her Washington, DC, home on October 12
Authorities are also reportedly reviewing Omar’s marriage history and financial records
The distinction could be significant under immigration rules. If Omar was already 18 when her father naturalized, she would have been treated as an adult and required to complete her own immigration process. If she was 17, she may have qualified for citizenship automatically when her father’s application was approved.
Investigators are also reportedly looking into Omar’s marriages, including a long-running and unproven allegation that her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, was her brother.
The claim first appeared years ago on a Somali-language blog and has consistently been rejected by Omar. No court has determined that she married a sibling or committed immigration fraud.
Still, court documents connected to the federal search of Omar’s Washington, DC, residence referred to the congresswoman as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi.”
Federal investigators have reportedly reviewed her financial disclosures as well. Those filings have been amended amid earlier congressional questions about the business interests of her husband, political consultant Tim Mynett.
Scrutiny of Mynett’s reported wealth increased after disclosures indicated that companies associated with him could be worth as much as $30 million.
The investigation intensified earlier this month when federal agents searched Omar’s Washington, DC, home and took personal items from the property.
Omar later said agents prevented her from contacting her lawyer for roughly an hour after the search.
Omar married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009, and the couple divorced in 2017. She has denied allegations that he is her brother
Omar’s 2025 filing had listed assets of between $6 million and $30 million shared with her husband before she amended it to a far smaller range, blaming accounting errors. She and her husband Mynett are pictured in a photo shared to social media
The Minnesota congresswoman has since assembled a heavyweight legal team featuring two Washington attorneys with extensive experience battling President Donald Trump.
Among those now representing Omar is Amy Jeffress, the high-profile lawyer who defended former President Joe Biden during investigations into his controversial use of an autopen to authorize presidential documents.
She has been joined by Joshua Matz, another prominent attorney who helped House Democrats pursue both of Trump’s impeachments.
The two lawyers have already sent a seven-page letter to the DOJ demanding the return of Omar’s passport, electronic devices and other property taken during the search.
But President Trump has shown little inclination to ease the pressure on one of his fiercest Democratic critics.
On Saturday night, the president publicly demanded that Omar ‘immediately’ resign from Congress, alleging that she had been sworn into office under a name other than her own.
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He also brought up Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, Omar’s former husband, and claimed his name matched that of her brother.
Trump then mocked Omar over an alleged response when she was asked whether she had married her brother.
President Donald Trump publicly demanded that Omar ‘immediately’ resign from Congress amid the investigations on Saturday
‘When asked whether or not she was married to her brother, she said, “Not to my knowledge,”‘ Trump said.
The president compared that response with how he said he would answer a similar question about marrying one of his sisters.
‘I said, no. It’s pretty simple, right?’ Trump told the audience.
He then turned his fire on Somalia, where Omar was born, attacking the country and questioning why the congresswoman should be able to criticize the United States.
‘She comes from one of the worst countries, maybe the worst country in the world, and she’s telling us how to run our country,’ Trump said.
The president accused Omar of using a false name when she was sworn into Congress and argued that she should immediately give up her seat.
‘Because she used a fake name to be sworn in, I assume she must immediately resign from Congress, huh?’ he said.
Piker has also been criticized for past remarks he has made
John Nagel, who is running against Ilhan Omar, slammed his opponent for platforming Piker
Amidst these investigations, Omar was criticized for appearing at an event with Piker.
‘Ilhan Omar knows exactly who Hasan Piker is and what he has said,’ her Republican opponent, John Nagel, posted on X.
He highlighted Piker’s comment in 2019 that ‘America deserved 9/11’ and that he would vote for Hamas over Israel ‘every single time.’
‘This is not outreach,’ Nagel wrote. ‘It is the normalization of antisemitism, support for terrorists and contempt for America.’
He then demanded prominent state Democrats disavow Omar’s appearance with Piker, as some Democratic Farmer Labor Party members in the Minnesota Legislature signed a message urging Piker’s event in Minnesota to be canceled.
‘Minnesotans reject hate!’ they said in a joint statement. ‘We strongly object to giving a platform and legitimacy to Hasan Piker, a nationally known Jew-hater, homophobe and misogynist.’
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, meanwhile, said it was ‘appalled’ by Omar’s decision to share the stage with Piker.
‘Elevating someone with a longstanding record of antisemitic and hateful rhetoric is a betrayal of Jewish Minnesotans and harmful to the broader public,’ it said.
‘Piker’s rhetoric dehumanizes Jews and shifts responsibility for antisemitic violence onto its potential victims. It deserves unequivocal condemnation from everyone who claims to oppose bigotry and antisemitism.’
Republican gubernatorial candidate Lisa Demuth also said she was astonished that ‘Democrat leaders invited a vile anti American left-wing radical to Minnesota…. a week before the election.
‘This is the Democrats [sic] closing message to voters,’ she suggested.
But the DFL Party distanced itself from the event, according to Fox 9.
‘This is not a DFL-sanctioned event. Our DFL candidates are focused on talking directly with voters about the affordability crisis created by Donald Trump and his Republican rubber stamps,’ Party Chairman Richard Carlbom said.
‘DFL values include respect and inclusion, and I condemn this individual’s comments that divide us,’ he added.
