NYTimes: If Ilhan Omar Broke the Law, She Should Get Away With It Because Muh Democracy

"Nobody is above the law" was fun, for as long as it lasted. 

The new hotness is "Leave Democrat criminals alone, because prosecuting them is authoritarian."

It's subtle, but with a trained eye, you can detect a slight difference between the way that The New York Times Editorial Board is treating the accusations against Ilhan Nur Said Elmi (aka Ilhan Omar) and the way they treated the accusations against Donald Trump. https://t.co/Ggll8WfVw0

— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) October 23, 2026

Back in the day, armed FBI agents raiding a former president's home were "defending democracy," and pointing out that Hunter Biden was a felon who kept his crimes on video on his computer was "Russian disinformation." 

Without law enforcement officers fondling the First Lady's underwear, democracy itself would fall. 

Today? The New York Times admits that Ilhan Omar may be a criminal, but since she is an opponent of the president, democracy itself is at stake if she is investigated. 

Uh. Hmm. Right. I guess. 

The revocation of a political opponent’s citizenship has long been a tool of authoritarian repression.

The Soviet Union stripped Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the dissident author, of his citizenship in 1974 and deported him to West Germany. Czechoslovakia revoked the citizenship of Milan Kundera, another celebrated author, in 1979. East Germany and Romania, under Communist rule, took similar steps against critics, as did Chile under Augusto Pinochet, Greece under its military dictatorship, Germany under Hitler and Italy under Mussolini. More recently, Nicaragua stripped more than 300 government critics of their citizenship.

Now comes a new effort to do so from President Trump’s administration. Last week, federal agents searched the Washington, D.C., home of Representative Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat and a Somali immigrant, apparently as part of a federal investigation of her citizenship. The search should disturb all Americans, regardless of whether they agree with Ms. Omar’s political views.

This is the inverse of the 'Hitler loved dogs too' fallacy, or, in more recent terms, the "Ivermectin is horse paste" dismissal of one of the most important drugs for human health in world history. Since two things overlap, they are, therefore, exactly the same. 

Of course, authoritarian regimes levy taxes. It is one of the oldest tools in their toolbox. Therefore, taxes are a tool of authoritarian regimes and must be abolished. 

FFS, man. Come up with a better line. Or at least a line you didn't endorse just a few years ago, when you were thrilled that Joe Biden appointed, illegally, I might add, a Special Prosecutor to put his political opponent in jail. 

Mr. Trump’s allies have claimed, among other things, that Ms. Omar’s father misrepresented her age during her naturalization process 26 years ago by saying that she was 17 — and thus still a child — rather than 18. We do not pretend to know whether the allegations have merit. Yet as tempting as it may be to focus on them, they are not the main issue.

Sometimes, Mr. Trump makes claims about his perceived enemies that are simply false. Other times, his claims have some connection to reality. Repeatedly, though, he and his appointees use their law enforcement powers selectively and thus unjustly.

Not the main issue? Gee whiz, man, that's quite the standard for the "nobody is above the law" crowd. The same crowd that literally CHANGED THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS on a law in New York for the sole purpose of prosecuting Trump to make him a felon. 

And last I checked, Joe Biden sent one of his top Justice Department aides to New York to prosecute Alvin Bragg's trial against Trump. But that was in the service of justice. This is authoritarian, because...Ilhan Omar. She's the good guy. 

@karol @MZHemingway Also, if you’re going to lie in order to become a citizen, you might want to lay low and not be the poster child for ungrateful bi***es while running a fraudulent winery and child care scheme. There’s a LOT of room for not having anyone notice you.

— PoebelVox (@PoebelVox) October 23, 2026

Ilhan Omar is dirty. Everybody in Minnesota knows she is dirty. She helped pass the law that enabled billions of dollars in fraud here in Minnesota, conducted by her Somali political allies here. 

We do not pretend to know whether the allegations have merit. Yet as tempting as it may be to focus on them, they are not the main issue.

Now I would be tempted to give the Times the benefit of the doubt if they had stood on principle and argued that Trump, despite suspicions, should not be investigated or prosecuted because it created a political temptation to go after presidents once they leave office. That is a legitimate argument, based on the "we aren't a banana republic" theory that tit-for-tat would harm the country. 

But the Times' went full TDS. And they are going full TDS again, swinging to the other side of the pendulum now that their ox might get gored. 

As for "not pretending to know..." Oh please. At the very least, they know what everybody else does, and since these people work for the New York Times, they know the common wisdom is that she is in deep trouble. Their admission that the charges may be true amounts to admitting they believe they are likely true. And that is because of the DNA. Nobody expected that, and it has made the Left very squirrely. 

Right now, Democrats whom The Times supports are running for office or declaring on Sunday shows that they have a list of Republicans they want to jail. Elissa Slotkin openly talks about persecuting young Republicans to scare them out of politics. 

And the Times' response is...let Ilhan Omar get away with any crime to save democracy. 

Please. 

Editor's Note: Do you enjoy HotAir's conservative reporting exposing the radical left and woke media? Support our work so we can keep bringing you the truth.

Join HotAir VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.