Radical leftist Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is hailed by her allies as a refugee from Somalia. So does she know her American history? When she made a comical gaffe, reading from her notes about “World War II” and calling it “World War Eleven,” a Newsweek writer felt the urgent need to “fact check” it. It’s on video. It’s factual. But as usual, the complaint it “has been shared online without context.”
The “context” they don’t like is the comedy that followed. Twitchy captured some of the memes. Others suggested jokes about sequels, like Back to the Future Eleven, or our island state Hawa-eleven, and of course, her name looks like Eleven-han Omar.
Newsweek’s Alice Gibbs began:
A short video clip circulating widely on social media appears to show Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar referring to World War II as “World War Eleven,” after a brief verbal slip that has been shared online without context.
She complained this clip from January 22 was shared by some deplorable accounts:
Ilhan Omar referred to World War II as "World War Eleven."
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 27, 2026
I can’t believe this dummy is in Congress
DEPORT this Somali already pic.twitter.com/UGtiNDiFDW
One widely circulated post from the X account Libs of TikTok, which is operated by conservative activist Chaya Raichik, has garnered more than 700,000 views on X. Other users also shared the clip with captions mocking Omar or suggesting she misunderstood Roman numerals, framing the moment as evidence of a lack of basic historical knowledge....
In their post, Libs of TikTok wrote: “Ilhan Omar referred to World War II as ‘World War Eleven.’ I can’t believe this dummy is in Congress DEPORT this Somali already.”
There's your "context" they don't like -- sending Omar back to where she came from. Gibbs said there's no evidence that she's a dummy:
There is no indication Omar was confused about the historical event itself. The comment appears to be a verbal slip, not a substantive error, and was corrected in real time during the same sentence.
Newsweek clearly worries about Omar's claims to American greatness: "The viral spread of the clip comes amid heightened online attention on Omar for unrelated reasons, including renewed political claims about whether she could be deported and fresh scrutiny of her household finances."
Back in 1992, when Vice President Dan Quayle wrongly suggested to a grade-schooler that potato was spelled "potatoe," no "fact checkers" looked for context.
