President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday, called for Rep. Ilhan Omar to be expelled from Congress — and even deported — after a GOP effort to censure her failed by a single vote this week. Trump’s comments followed days of partisan fighting over Omar’s social-media activity after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
🚨 JUST IN: While aboard Air Force One, President Trump calls for Ilhan Omar to be EXPELLED from Congress after she glorified Charlie Kirk’s kiIIing
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 18, 2025
“She’s from SOMALIA! These people come from a place with NOTHING, and then they tell us how to run our country”
EXPEL AND DEPORT! pic.twitter.com/ahLOjZqg5V
The House on Wednesday voted 214–213 to table a resolution from Rep. Nancy Mace that sought to censure Omar and strip her of committee assignments. Four Republicans — Mike Flood of Nebraska, Jeff Hurd of Colorado, Tom McClintock of California, and Cory Mills of Florida — joined Democrats to block the measure, citing free-speech concerns.
Trump amplified the backlash on Thursday, urging Omar’s expulsion in remarks highlighted on social media and in a subsequent post on his own platform Truth Social. In that post, he criticized Somalia and revived a years-old, unproven allegation that Omar committed immigration fraud — a claim she has repeatedly denied. Omar became a U.S. citizen in 2000.
Omar has said she did not celebrate Kirk’s killing and has condemned political violence. Her office and allies argue that Republicans mischaracterized her repost — which called Kirk a “stochastic terrorist” — and that the censure push was a political bid that collided with First Amendment protections. Some of the Republicans who switched parties said in public that their votes were meant to protect free expression.
The episode underscores the combustible climate on Capitol Hill after Kirk’s assassination. While some Republicans pursue punitive measures against Omar, others warned that sanctioning speech — however harsh — risks eroding constitutional norms. Democrats, meanwhile, accused Trump and his allies of stoking nativism with calls to deport a naturalized citizen and of using Kirk’s death to escalate partisan fights.
What’s next is uncertain. As the 2025 agenda clashes with a turbulent election year, House leaders may choose to look at smaller items again or move on. The failed censure and the president’s call for expulsion have made the lines of struggle clearer for now. They have also brought the limitations of political speech and the responsibilities that come with it back to the center of the national debate.
A global media for the latest news, entertainment, music fashion, and more.
