Rep. Ilhan Omar, D Minn., is facing backlash after falsely claiming the United States deliberately targets Muslim nations during Ramadan. “Iraq was attacked by the US during Ramadan and it is sickening to know that the US is again going to attack Iran during Ramadan,” Omar wrote on X as tensions escalated ahead of a U.S. strike on Iran.
“The US apparently loves to strike Muslim countries during Ramadan and I am convinced it isn’t what these countries have done to violate international law but about who they worship,” she added.
Critics argue that such rhetoric, delivered during an active military standoff, risks giving adversaries propaganda they can weaponize.
Under the Constitution, treason is narrowly defined as levying war against the United States or adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. Legal scholars have long noted that the “aid and comfort” standard requires intent and tangible support, not merely controversial speech.
Still, opponents contend that accusing the United States of religiously motivated warfare while American forces face potential retaliation could be construed as echoing hostile narratives advanced by the Iranian regime.
They argue that when a sitting member of Congress frames U.S. military action as anti-Muslim aggression, it may embolden adversaries and undermine American diplomatic leverage.
Supporters of Omar counter that political speech, even sharp criticism of U.S. foreign policy, is protected under the First Amendment. They note that courts have historically set an extraordinarily high bar for proving treason, requiring overt acts and clear evidence of intentional alignment with an enemy power.
The debate underscores the tension between protected political expression and rhetoric that critics say risks crossing into dangerous territory during moments of international crisis.
Omar was also hit with a community note on X after making the claim that the United States targets Muslim nations during Ramadan.
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Users quickly pointed out that the U.S. invasion of Iraq under President George W. Bush began March 20, 2003, seven months before Ramadan that year.
They also noted that President George H.W. Bush launched Operation Desert Storm on Jan. 17, 1991, roughly two months before Ramadan began that year, a campaign that ultimately liberated Kuwait.
“Claiming America ‘chooses Ramadan to attack Muslims’ is not advocacy, it is a deliberate lie meant to inflame anger and divide Americans,” said Dalia al-Aqidi, a Muslim Iraqi-American running against Omar for her House seat.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said early Monday that the U.S. military operation in Iran is “laser-focused.”
“Destroy Iranian missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure and they will never have nuclear weapons,” said Hesgeth, who was joined by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.
Hegseth declined to give a timeframe for the operation, but he insisted it would not be “endless.”
“This is not Iraq,” Hegseth said. “This is not endless. I was there for both — our generation knows better, and so does this president. He called the last 20 years of nation-building wars dumb and he’s right. This is the opposite. This operation is a clear, devastating, decisive mission: Destroy the missile threat, destroy the navy, no nukes.”
Hegseth said there are no U.S. military “boots on the ground” in Iran right now, but said he would not “go into the exercise of what we will or will not do” in the future.
Caine said it will “take some time for us to conduct a battle damage assessment, and the targeting that CENTCOM will run will take those things into effect.”
At least 11 people have been killed in Israel. The Iranian Red Crescent says 555 people have been killed in Iran.
Caine said it will “take some time for us to conduct a battle damage assessment, and the targeting that CENTCOM will run will take those things into effect.”
Hegseth on Monday accused Iran of having started the war, saying Iran’s “stubborn and self-evident nuclear pursuit” as well as “targeting global shipping lines.”
“Iran had a conventional gun to our head as they tried to lie their way to a nuclear bomb,” Hegseth said to a room full of reporters on Monday morning with an important update.
