Rand Paul Offers To Finance Trip For Ilhan Omar To Somalia To ‘Appreciate America More’
United States Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) was recently interviewed on a wide range of topics, including President Donald Trump’s recent comments blasting four Democratic congresswomen of color.
Within the interview, conducted by Breitbart, Paul suggested that he would finance a trip to Somalia for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) to her country of origin Somalia, to demonstrate things are much better in the U.S. than there.
“I’m not saying we forcibly send her anywhere,” Paul said. “I’m willing to contribute to buy her a ticket to go visit Somalia. I think she can look and maybe learn a little bit about the disaster that is Somalia.”
Paul added that Omar “might come back and appreciate America more” if she gets a chance to see Somalia herself, according to reporting from The Louisville Courier-Journal.
Users on social media chastised Paul for continuing the commentary that was started by Trump.
Somalia is what happens when you let libertarianism run amok. Maybe the good fake doctor should go.
— Jonathan M. Katz✍? (@KatzOnEarth) July 29, 2019
If @RandPaul wanted to save a few bucks he could invite @IlhanMN to Kentucky where she can tour 10 of America’s worst counties based on poverty, education and healthcare and where residents are dependent on fed gov’t handouts (taken from revenue generated in blue states). https://t.co/ARyeYvXxnV
— Col. Morris Davis (@ColMorrisDavis) July 29, 2019
Maybe someone should get him a sit down with the 9/11 responders he voted against supporting.
— lisastark35 (@lisastark351) July 29, 2019
I would offer @RandPaul a ticket to russia, but he got this. https://t.co/XntUqrwSIJ
— The Art Of (@theartofrain) July 29, 2019
Omar has lived in the United States since she was 12-years-old. She left Somalia at the age of eight, according to her House of Representatives website.
Although Paul ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary races, he has been supportive of his presidency at many junctures, including when charges of racism were made against the chief executive. Last year, for instance, when it was revealed that Trump had derided certain groups of immigrants for coming to the United States from “s—hole countries,” Paul said the comments were improper, but suggested it was “unfair” for critics to call them racist.
Accusations of the president’s racism have been resurrected in recent days. Just weeks ago, President Donald Trump harshly criticized four Democratic congresswomen of color for their observations of societal ills and disagreements with Trump policies being implemented in the United States. Trump suggested to those women — of whom, only Omar is foreign-born — “go back” and fix their countries of origin.
The following week after those comments were made, Trump went to a campaign rally where audience members chanted “send her back,” alluding to Omar. The following day, Trump tried to suggest that he had attempted to stop the chant, saying he didn’t like it, although video evidence from that evening suggests Trump actually did no such thing.