Donald Trump seems to be under the impression that Minnesota’s Somali population has affected the state’s lake count.
Speaking with reporters at the White House Tuesday, the president lamented that Minnesota had hundreds of lakes—until the Somalis arrived.
“They’ve ruined a great state,” Trump said, referring to the Land of 10,000 Lakes. “You know I remember Minnesota in the old days, what a beautiful, beautiful, with lakes all over the place, they had more lakes than any place I’ve ever seen. It was so beautiful.
“They’re destroying it, probably, maybe they’ve destroyed it,” Trump continued, referring to the Somali immigrant community. “And I only hope a Republican woman who happens to be very respected by everybody gets in because you will see a difference.”
Trump was likely referring to Lisa Demuth, who is running in Minnesota’s gubernatorial election against Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar.
But the nonsensical conjecture emerged in the midst of a lengthy rant against Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, during which the president warned that the congresswoman could be deported or “go to jail” if evidence emerges that her father inaccurately reported her age on a citizenship application nearly three decades ago. Trump slammed Omar as a “sick” and “very dishonest person who hates our country.”
“She comes from a country that is essentially not even a country,” Trump said, referring to Somalia. “It’s a real shithouse.… Then she comes over here and she wants to tell us how to run America.
“She’s a disgrace to our country, and it’s amazing she can get elected, but Somalians vote for her,” Trump continued, using the wrong term for Somalis.
Trump then proceeded to disparage America’s Somali immigrant population, baselessly projecting that 98 percent of Somalis in the country “don’t work.”
“Most of them shouldn’t be here,” Trump said. “It’s a disgrace. It’s a disgrace.”