Nobody, to my knowledge, has ever accused Rep. Ilhan Omar of being a nationalist. But if her recently surfaced comments about Somalia are any indication, she is, in fact, an ardent one — just not for the nation of America.

A few months ago, controversy broke out surrounding comments Omar made during a speech about Somalia (delivered to a predominantly Somalian crowd in Minneapolis): “We are people of brotherhood, people of blood, people who know themselves to be Somalis, to be Muslims,” Omar thundered, according to the English-translation subtitles. “We are a gifted set of individuals with a patriotic spirit that acknowledges our homeland and strives to protect it.” In a shockingly candid admission, Omar openly bragged to the crowd about her ambition to serve the interests of a foreign nation while ostensibly representing American voters in the U.S. government: “The U.S. government will do what we tell the U.S. government to do,” she boasted. “That is the confidence we need to have as Somalis.… For as long as I am in Congress, no one will take over the seas belonging to the nation of Somalia and the United States will not support others who seek to steal from us.” 

“Us,” of course, did not refer to the United States. No serious observer of politics could ever imagine the congresswoman describing America in such terms.