Trump says Ilhan Omar must resign, then acts out her ‘not to my knowledge’ answer

Judge, jury and community theatre. In Sioux City, Trump announced that Ilhan Omar “must immediately have to resign from Congress” and then played both parts of her interview himself.

The pitch: “It was just revealed” that “her name is not Ilhan Omar.” Asked whether she married her brother, she said “not to my knowledge,” which he called “about the worst” political answer he’d ever heard. Then the sketch: “Not to my knowledge. I don’t think so. Did you have children with your brother? I’m not sure.” That last line is his. We couldn’t find her saying it anywhere.

What actually got “revealed”: a Justice Department court filing about the search of her home that, according to Fox News via Newsweek, referred to her as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.” A filing isn’t a finding. Her office calls the claim “completely false” and says Ilhan Omar is her real name. The “not to my knowledge” line came on MS NOW, where, per Newsweek, she was asked if she was related to her ex-husband. She has denied the marriage smear for years.

None of that slowed him down. “The Republicans have just picked up a seat in the House,” he declared. The crowd chanted “lock her up.” Then he moved on to her birthplace: “a non-country, basically. Somalia has no government... All they do is run around shooting each other.” On stage he said she had “openly admitted to fraud.” Her office calls the whole thing a “desperate smear.”