Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) has been busted for accepting a fully paid-for luxury trip to the World Cup from Qatar, a country notorious for human rights abuses.
She not only attended the FIFA World Cup, but she also met with Qatari government officials while she was there last November. All of her travel, food, and lodging were paid for by the Islamic nation. As a side note, Qatar also funds the terrorist group Hamas which wants to wipe Israel off the face of the planet.
According to the Star Tribune, not only did she get a free trip from Qatar, but she also took a trip to Pakistan in 2022 funded by its government.
Omar paints herself as an advocate for human rights, which is laughable. She is rabidly antisemitic and is all in for Islamic extremists.
It was such a delight to root for #TeamUSA at the World Cup in Qatar and today we are excited to root for them here at home.
Let’s go #TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/w4POE4rKp6
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 29, 2022
Financial disclosures show that Omar went to the soccer event on Qatar’s dime despite how corrupt it appears.
According to the Star Tribune, “Qatar has been widely criticized for abusing migrant workers and criminalizing same-sex relationships, among other alleged human rights issues. Omar attended the FIFA World Cup and met with Qatari government officials while she was in the Gulf nation last November and had her food and lodging paid for by the country. The cost of her trip wasn’t disclosed.”
Omar’s spokesman sidestepped the issue when asked about it, claiming that she “remains committed to upholding human rights and the rule of law around the world, and also to direct engagement with the regimes responsible for human rights abuses.”
“That includes accountability for the vile labor practices and mistreatment of migrant workers in Qatar,” Jeremy Slevin, Omar’s spokesman, proclaimed in a statement on Monday. “To that end, she sent a letter demanding accountability for these abuses ahead of the World Cup and specifically raised her deep concerns in her meetings with Qatari officials. She also visited our troops stationed in Qatar and got the opportunity to meet with the folks helping us with Afghan resettlement in Qatar.”
— Geo Political Updates (@GeoPolUpdates) August 17, 2023
The Minnesota Democrat was joined by a group of other politicos at the World Cup that included both Democrats and Republicans as well as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The Star Tribune noted, “Under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act, members of Congress and their staff are allowed to travel overseas on a foreign government’s expense as long as they report it on their annual financial disclosures.”
“Congresswoman Omar accepted an invitation from the Embassy of Qatar to attend events in Doha in November 2022 as part of a program authorized under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961,” a spokesman from the Qatari Embassy in Washington, D.C. claimed via a statement on Tuesday.
“This longstanding exchange program organized by Qatar was approved by the US State Department in 2008, and permits participants to accept transportation, lodging, and related expenses during their attendance,” the spokesman asserted.
Terrorist money
— Tacoma15 (@KlimasLarry) August 18, 2023
Traveling overseas for political reasons is not uncommon among Congress members.
“Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber traveled to Spain last November for a conference, according to LegiStorm, a website that tracks congressional travel. His roughly $20,000 trip was funded by the Franklin Center for Global Policy Exchange, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on international issues,” the Star Tribune reported.
“In 2019, Democratic U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and Rep. Angie Craig took trips to Tel Aviv, Israel, that were funded by the American Israel Education Foundation, a charitable organization that’s affiliated with the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC. Each of their trips cost about $31,000,” the media outlet added.
Although not technically illegal, having foreign governments pay for a politician’s trip can be interpreted as definitely unethical, especially when it comes to communist regimes, dictatorships, and Islamic strongholds that ignore human rights.
She constantly fundraises for CAIR, an arm of Hamas. And no one bats an eye
— 2AisAbsolute (@MikeRic37008760) August 18, 2023
Omar has bashed Israel and India over their human rights records. In July, she stated that there was “no way in hell” she’d attend the Israeli president’s speech to Congress.
WE SHOULD NOT BE INVITING THE PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL—A GOVERNMENT WHO UNDER ITS CURRENT PRIME MINISTER BARRED THE FIRST TWO MUSLIM WOMEN ELECTED TO CONGRESS FROM VISITING THE COUNTRY—TO GIVE A JOINT ADDRESS TO CONGRESS.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 13, 2023
She also refused to attend Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s joint congressional speech. She claimed her absence was due to opposition over “his government’s human rights record.”
Business Insider interviewed Omar concerning her Qatar trip. She justified the country paying her way by claiming “There are no perfect countries that have a perfect record.”
“I wonder what kinds of conversations will be had, and how many people will object to that happening with the history of Indigenous people, of enslavement, of police brutality,” Omar told Business Insider, referring to the next World Cup in 2026, which will be hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
3/ Omar: “We are slated to host the World Cup next with Mexico and Canada. I wonder what kinds of conversations will be had, and how many people will object to that happening with the history of indigenous people, of enslavement, of police brutality.”
“In the world that we’re… pic.twitter.com/nUD55nWZzu
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) August 16, 2023
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