Ilhan Omar’s Juneteenth Fumble: Deletes Post After Somalia Slavery Backlash

It looks like repulsive Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) stepped in it again on X, and this time it’s a Juneteenth mess that’s got her scrambling. 

The congresswoman, no stranger to catching flak for her anti-American, anti-Semitic vibes, was forced to yank a post celebrating Juneteenth after users hammered her over the inconvenient truth of modern-day slavery in her native Somalia. 

Talk about a self-own.

Here’s what Omar originally posted from her official account: “160 years ago on June 19, 1865, slavery ended in this country. Today, we celebrate Black freedom, resilience, and achievement, and continue the work to root out systematic racism from our policies and institutions.” 

Sounds noble except X users weren’t having it. One reply, from Gunther Eagleman, went viral: “Somalia still has slaves. Ilhan should go fight to free her own people.” 

Ouch. That hit hard enough to make Omar’s post vanish faster than a politician’s principles during election season.

Eagleman has a point. According to a 2023 Walk Free report, Somalia’s got a staggering 98,000 people trapped in modern slavery: 6.2 per 1,000 folks. The country scores a dismal 18/100 on government response to the crisis, while racking up a near-perfect 98/100 for vulnerability to enslavement. Those are numbers that don’t lie, even if Omar’s post tried to dodge them like she dodged the country of her birth to eventually flee to a country that she hates.

So, what does Omar do? She slaps up a new Juneteenth post, this time tiptoeing around the slavery bit. “On Juneteenth, we remember that freedom is not always swift but it is always worth the fight. It’s a powerful reminder of how long justice can take to reach those who deserve it most,” she writes, before recycling the same “celebrate Black freedom” line from her deleted post. 

Smooth move, Ilhan, except the X crowd’s still lighting her up, reminding her that Somalia’s slave markets aren’t exactly a distant memory.

This isn’t just an X kerfuffle, either. Omar’s been pushing the reparations angle hard, teaming up with her Squad pals last month to sponsor a bill on the issue, following a similar co-sponsorship in February. She’s all in on the “systemic racism” fight here, but apparently less eager to tackle the systemic slavery back in Somalia. Funny how that works.

For context, Juneteenth became a federal holiday in June 2021, when Congress passed bipartisan legislation commemorating the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in the Confederacy, down in Galveston, Texas, finally got word of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, two-and-a-half years late. It was a rare moment of unity, but leave it to then-President Joe Biden to turn the signing ceremony into a political rant about “voting rights under attack.” Because nothing screams “bipartisan” like a good ol’ partisan jab, right Joe? Joe . . . are you there Joe?

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Omar’s latest X flop is just another reminder: when you’re pointing fingers at America’s past, make sure your own backyard isn’t a moral cesspool. 

The congresswoman’s got some explaining to do, but don’t hold your breath—she’s already moved on to the next post.

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