Ilhan Omar blames Trump's 'criminal neglect' for her father's COVID-19 death during interview with MSNBC

Naina Bhardwaj

Ilhan Omar speaks with media gathered outside Mercado Central in Minneapolis, Minnesota on August 11, 2020. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Ilhan Omar has blamed Donald Trump's "criminal neglect" for her father's death from COVID-19 during an interview on MSNBC.

She said: "My father should be here today. So many of our family members should be here today and they're not here with us because we have leaders who didn't care about their lives."
On June 16, the Congresswoman announced that her father had died of complications from COVID-19, aged 67, the day before.

Omar and her father came to the US in 1995 as refugees from Somalia during the country's civil war and eventually settled in Minneapolis which she has represented since 2019.

Ilhan Omar has blamed Donald Trump's "criminal neglect" for her father's death from COVID-19 during an interview on MSNBC.

The Congresswoman said: "My father and over 300,000 people have lost their lives because of dangerous criminal neglect by Trump and his administration. My father should be here today. So many of our family members should be here today and they're not here with us because we have leaders who didn't care about their lives.

"The President to this day has not shown an ounce of compassion to the people who have passed away. He has still not acknowledged the devastating loss, so many of us are feeling," Omar continued.

A video of the interview was tweeted by the Congresswoman's Senior Communications & Strategy Director, Jeremy Slevin.

Omar said: "I agree with Clyburn that it is not enough for us just to issue subpoenas. We have to investigate and prosecute these people who are responsible for these reckless deaths."

The House coronavirus subcommittee is currently investigating claims against former Health and Human Services (HSS) advisor Paul Alexander and the department's Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs, Michael Caputo, of meddling with the scientists' work.

A July email written by Alexander, obtained by the subcommittee and seen by The Sun read: "So the bottom line is if it is more infectiousness now, the issue is who cares? If it is causing more cases in the young, my word is who cares...as long as we make a sensible decision and protect the elderly and nursing homes, we must go on with life...who cares if we test more and get more positive tests.

"There is no other way, we need to establish herd, and it only come about allowing the non-high-risk groups expose themselves to the virus. Infants, kids, teens, young people, young adults, middle-aged with no conditions etc. have zero to little risk... so we use them to develop herd... we want them infected."

Omar's father died of complications from COVID-19 on June 15, 2020, aged 67. The next day, she tweeted: "Surely we belong to God, and to Him we shall return. It is with tremendous sadness and pain to say goodbye to my father, Nur Omar Mohamed. No words can describe what he meant to me and all who knew and loved him."

During the interview, she added that she supported House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, who released a memo on Wednesday which said that he had found evidence of "political interference" by Trump administration officials to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s pandemic response, The Independent reported.

Ilhan Omar and her father came to the United States in 1995 as refugees from Somalia during the country's civil war and eventually settled in Minneapolis, which she has represented since 2019.