Ana Navarro attacked Donald Trump’s criticism of Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, drawing a pointed comparison between Omar’s immigration background and that of two of the president’s wives.
Navarro, a prominent Republican critic of Trump who has been a regular on the show since 2022, was responding to the president’s claim that Omar came from a country “without laws, without police, without military.” Trump also mocked her for invoking her “Constitutional rights.”
Moderator Whoopi Goldberg fired back: “Well, somebody’s gotta tell us what’s in the Constitution because you sure don’t seem to know.”
Navarro then offered her own retort, saying: “Talking about people coming from countries without Constitutions, didn’t at least two of his wives come from the former Soviet Union?”
The show’s largely liberal audience erupted at the reference to Ivana and Melania Trump, both of whom were born outside the United States.
Navarro later argued that the investigation would do little to weaken Omar politically, pointing to the congresswoman’s commanding victories in her district over the years.
“The people who do like this stunt are the Republican base,” Navarro said. “The reason he’s on a tour, a desperate tour of red states, is because even the Republican base is angry at Trump.”
“He’s been obsessed with Ilhan Omar for years now, and the Republican base hates her,” she continued. “I think what he’s doing is literally throwing red meat at the base because red meat is too expensive to buy!”
Ana Navarro condemned Donald Trump’s attack on left-wing Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, comparing Omar’s immigration history with that of two of the president’s wives.
Navarro, a Republican who has consistently opposed Trump and joined the show as a regular in 2022, was reacting to his claim that Omar came from a country “without laws, without police, without military” and had no standing to invoke “Constitutional rights.”
Ivana Trump was born in what is now the Czech Republic before moving to Canada in the 1970s. She later relocated to the United States and married Donald Trump in 1977.
Melania Trump, the president’s third wife, was born in Slovenia and moved to New York in 1996 to pursue a modeling career.
She met the billionaire businessman and future president two years later. The couple married in 2005.
At a rally in Ohio on Monday, Trump said of Omar: “She comes in from a country without laws, without police, without military, where all they do is shoot each other, and she comes into our country and she says, ‘I have a constitutional right,’” he said.
“She’s telling us about the Constitution, and she comes from one of the worst countries anywhere on the planet,” he added.
Trump also described the Somali-born lawmaker as “totally crooked,” while insisting that he had “nothing to do” with the criminal investigation involving his longtime political adversary.
“I’ve always found her to be totally crooked personally, but that has nothing to do with me,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday before leaving for a midterm campaign rally in Ohio.
“I have nothing to do with it,” he added.
Omar, a Somali migrant who arrived in the United States at age 12 with her family after they were granted asylum, has clashed with Trump repeatedly over the years.
Homeland Security officers remove boxes from the Washington residence of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
‘I understand they’re looking at her very carefully,’ Trump added of the Homeland Security investigations’ raid on Omar’s DC-area home.
The raid was carried out just three weeks before the midterm elections, breaking with longstanding internal Justice Department policies.
Omar, a Somali migrant who came to the US at age 12 with her family after they were granted asylum, has sparred with Trump for years.
Trump has falsely suggested on multiple occasions that Omar is in the country ‘illegally,’ despite the fact she obtained US citizenship in 2000, at age 17.
‘She’s here illegally,’ Trump said of Omar at an event in December 2025, taking aim at Omar, ‘whatever the hell her name is, with the little turban…’
‘Throw her the hell out,’ he said.
The remarks come as Trump has repeatedly amplified claims questioning Omar’s net worth, pointing to an earlier financial disclosure suggesting that Omar and her family were worth at least $30 million.
The April disclosure sparked a flurry of calls for an investigation and misconduct charges by Republicans and lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee who questioned the apparent influx of wealth, which Omar and her office said was the result of an error by her accountant.
Ivana Trump (pictured left) was born in what is now known as the Czech Republic before emigrating to Canada in the 1970s before relocating to the United States and marrying Trump in 1997
Melania (pictured right), Trump’s third wife, was born in Slovenia before moving to New York in 1996 as a model
Join the discussion
Is it fair for politicians’ family backgrounds to be used as political weapons in heated debates?
Last month, the Office of Congressional Conduct dismissed the misconduct allegations against Omar regarding the reporting error, as CNBC reported.
Omar for her part fired back against Trump’s latest remarks – denouncing the raid on her house as the latest in a flurry of recent efforts to ‘weaponize’ the nation’s law enforcement agencies, as well as an attempt to intimidate her in her reelection campaign.
‘For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns,’ Omar said on social media later.
‘This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation.’
