Conservative commentators have questioned why a social media post in which U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar appeared to refer to her father as "Nur Said" is no longer on her timeline, amid a renewed federal investigation into the former's marriage and immigration history. Court filings earlier this month show investigators identified the Minnesota Democrat as "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar." Asked about the filing, Omar told reporters on Friday: "My name is Ilhan Abdullahi Omar." The alternative name is similar to that of Omar's former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi.
Omar has faced longstanding yet unproven allegations that Said Elmi was her brother and their marriage was concocted in a bid to secure him a green card. Omar has repeatedly denied Said Elmi is her brother and that their marriage was fraudulent. A June 2013 post from Omar's account on X, then still known as Twitter, read, Happy Father's Day to my aabo Nur Said, I am forever grateful to Allah for giving me the best father," according to an online archive.
Aabo is the Somali word for father. The post is no longer available at its original URL. Newsweek has not established when or why it was removed.
MAGA commentators Libs of TikTok and Benny Johnson have circulated the post and pointed to the name's similarity to that of Omar's former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. "If she has nothing to hide, why is she deleting everything? It’s about to get bad for Ilhan," wrote Johnson.
Libs of TikTok shared a screenshot of the deleted post on X, tagging Omar and asking, "why did you delete this?" An official Congressional Black Caucus statement issued after Omar’s father died in 2020 identified him as Nur Omar Mohamed. The statement said Omar was raised by her father and grandfather after her mother died when she was 2 years old. In a common Somali naming convention, a child's name may incorporate their father's and paternal grandfather's given names.
Newsweek contacted Omar’s office, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Justice Department for comment. Federal agents searched Omar's Washington home on October 12 following months of scrutiny, and investigators have obtained a sample of her DNA, a source close to the matter previously told Newsweek. Omar's sister, Sahra Noor, also voluntarily spoke with investigators following the search, according to the source.
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