Fraud probe puts spotlight on Ilhan Omar’s district amid viral gaffe

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is facing backlash online after a brutal video resurfaced showing her misreading World War II as “World War Eleven” during a news conference on Capitol Hill.

Omar, the first Somali-American member of Congress, made the mistake during her opening remarks at a Democratic news conference last year about reintroducing the “Neighbors Not the Enemy Act.” The bill, which did not pass, was intended to challenge President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement, specifically his invocation of the Alien Enemies Act.

“The last time the Alien Enemies Act was implemented, it was used to detain and deport German, Japanese and Italian immigrants during World War Eleven,” the congressman said.

“Oh, two,” he quickly corrected himself, laughing.

The resurfaced clip is making the rounds online as Omar’s district faces increased scrutiny due to a massive federal fraud investigation largely involving the Somali immigrant community. The error drew ridicule, including from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who mocked Omar by saying, “‘World War Eleven’… Yes, that was deadly.”

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In a separate post, Lee continued to attack Omar, sharing her mistake alongside another video in which he called Trump voters “idiots.” In the video, Omar says, “It’s become really difficult to have an intellectual discussion with any of these people,” adding, “The stupidity of the United States has arrived, because how do we get the Trump presidency again?” It was seen that he said.

The video of Omar’s gaffe also received backlash from Elon Musk, who posted a grimace emoji.

Popular conservative account “That’s Why I Am Meme” wrote, “She must have received her education at the Center for Quality Learning.” The post claimed that one of the day care centers in Minneapolis was involved in the scam; This center went viral because its name on its sign was misspelled as “Quality Learning Center” instead of “Quality Learning Center”.

Conservative activist and prominent “anti-transition” Chloe Cole posted on X: “I absolutely adore this clip of Ilhan Omar calling World War II ‘World War Eleven.’”

“It’s truly quality learning. We’re learning like we’ve never learned before,” Cole wrote.

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The Quality Learning Center in Minnesota has been identified as being at the center of the state’s alleged child care fraud scandal. (Madelin Fuerste/Fox News)

Conservative podcast host Matt Walsh said, “God forbid we ever have World War III, Ilhan Omar Hundred Eleven will think we’re in World War.”

In another X post, Walsh wrote: “Imagine the astronomical level of stupidity on display here. Ilhan Omar doesn’t know how to read Roman numerals AND thinks there are 11 world wars.” “Either of these would be reasonable grounds to remove him from office and send him back to Somalia. But both?”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Omar for comment.

This comes as the federal government’s investigation into allegations of rampant fraud in Minnesota has stepped up, with agents executing 22 search warrants at locations including child care facilities suspected of being involved. The raids Tuesday morning focused on federal investigations into largely Somali-owned businesses, including child care facilities that were registered with the government but allegedly billed for care not provided.

Sources told Fox News that two of the raids were carried out at Quality Learning Center and Baby Halimo Child Care Center in Minneapolis.

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Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., shout at President Donald Trump as he delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 24, 2026. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Omar has been widely critical of the federal investigation. In an interview in January CBS NewsOmar said the Trump administration’s handling of the scandal “has hurt my constituents and created the kind of chaos and confusion that no one needs right now.”

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Speaking to Margaret Brennan, Omar said the Trump administration’s response to the emerging scam “created a level of confusion and chaos that was not necessary at a time when we were trying to deal with a serious problem that serious people should be addressing.”

Omar continued: “We want to cooperate [sic] Work with the administration to ensure that no fraud is being perpetuated in our state.” He added: “We do not want the level of terror, confusion and chaos that is being created right now with no consequences.”