Former President Barack Obama sparked an online firestorm on Sunday after posting his support for Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., amid multiple federal investigations into her immigration status and finances.
“It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say,” Obama wrote. “But that’s exactly what the Trump Administration is doing to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.”
The former president went on to explain in the lengthy post that the Omar situation is “appalling” and suggested the reason she is facing an investigation is that she is a critic of the Trump administration.
“Think about that,” Obama said. “The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president.”
Obama added, “The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar’s political views.”
Obama’s post, viewed over 5 million times, was quickly blasted by conservatives, many of whom pointed to the political targeting that occurred during his administration, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) going after Tea Party groups and the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into then-candidate Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
“This cannot be real,” conservative commentator and former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino posted on X. “This petty tyrant lecturing us about ‘American democracy’ is like being lectured by a screaming five-year-old about self-control. Sit down Mr. President, everyone knows who you really are.”
“Think about the utter gall of the man behind the Russian collusion hoax, and who, along with his henchmen and hitmen, helped bloom a million poisonous ‘probes’ and persecutions whereby the ‘full weight of the federal government’ was ‘brought down’ on the ENTIRETY OF THE OPPOSING POLITICAL PARTY,” Federalist senior contributor Benjamin Weingarten posted on X.
“Say, didn’t this guy bug Trump Tower?” Center of the American Experiment policy fellow Bill Glahn posted on X.
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“The original community organizer rushes to the defense of one of his protégés,” conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza posted on X. “Both of them are part of a deliberate scheme to ‘decolonize’ America by uprooting its western and Christian roots.”
“This is the same guy whose IRS went after Tea Party groups,” conservative influencer Gunther Eagleman posted on X. “Spare me the lecture, Barack.”
“No one investigated more perceived ‘enemies’ of the administration than Obama did,” political commentator Matthew Brodsky posted on X. “Of course, if you support Abdul El Sayed, you’d support Ilhan Omar. Obama was the original booster of the Muslim Brotherhood (and the regime in Iran) in US politics. We continue to deal with those repercussions.”
The White House also pushed back on Obama’s comments in a statement to Fox News Digital on Sunday.
“Unlike Joe Biden, President Trump has not weaponized the Department of Justice against his political foes,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said. “The Department is focused on restoring law and order and keeping Americans safe.”
Trump has denied involvement in the investigation, previously telling reporters that the matter was up to the Justice Department.
Fox News Digital reached out to Obama’s office for comment.
Sources previously told Fox News Digital that investigators are examining whether Omar or her father committed fraud on immigration paperwork when she became a U.S. citizen decades ago. Fox News Digital was first to report that Omar’s Washington, D.C., home was raided by federal agents last week.
Additionally, Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Washington, D.C., announced her office was investigating Omar’s financial disclosures, which had previously been subject to public scrutiny and congressional oversight, but never by authorities.
Omar has defended herself on social media in recent days.
“This raid by Trump’s DHS is an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies,” Omar’s office said in a statement.
“For a decade, Donald Trump has relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with inflammatory rhetoric, repeatedly putting a target on her back. Now, those attacks have escalated to a pointless federal raid. The Congresswoman has done nothing wrong. No president should be able to use the power of the federal government to intimidate his political enemies.”
Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace and Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report