Omar’s chief of staff calls Vice President Vance’s immigration-fraud claim “a ridiculous lie”
Connor McNuttChief of staff to Rep. Ilhan Omar, in an emailed statement to Fox News Digital
In an emailed statement to Fox News Digital responding to Vice President JD Vance’s March 27 remarks, Rep. Ilhan Omar’s chief of staff, Connor McNutt, called Vance’s claim “a ridiculous lie and desperate attempt to distract” from what he called “the pedophile protection party’s unpopular war of choice, increasing gas prices, and rapidly dropping polling numbers.” He said the claim was “rich coming from someone who literally said they were willing to ‘create stories’ to redirect the media.” McNutt’s characterizations of Vance and of the party he calls “the pedophile protection party” are his own.
“This is rich coming from someone who literally said they were willing to ‘create stories’ to redirect the media,” … “This is a ridiculous lie and desperate attempt to distract from the pedophile protection party’s unpopular war of choice, increasing gas prices, and rapidly dropping polling numbers.”
Reporting
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Should Trump administration officials publicly accuse Rep. Ilhan Omar of immigration fraud?
Since at least 2016 there have been unproven claims that Rep. Ilhan Omar’s 2009 husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, is her brother. Senior Trump administration officials have repeated the claim publicly. This record begins with Vice President JD Vance’s March 27, 2026 statement that “we actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud,” and includes President Donald Trump’s May 1 statement, “I believe she married her brother.” On September 10, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a podcast interview, “we know that she married her brother to try to bring him in the United States,” and that an investigation was ongoing. On September 13, border czar Tom Homan declined to give specifics of an “ongoing criminal investigation” but said “no one’s above the law.” Omar has denied the claim: on September 16 she told a reporter “Absolutely not” and that she is not under investigation, and on September 18 Fox News Digital reported her saying DHS had not contacted her. Fox reported that there has been no public evidence available to confirm an open investigation into her.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Fox News Digital’s live blog reports Vice President JD Vance’s claim and quotes an emailed statement from Connor McNutt, Rep. Ilhan Omar’s chief of staff, responding to it.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
Newsweek reports Vice President Vance’s claim and a statement shared with it by Omar’s chief of staff, Connor McNutt, calling the claim “a ridiculous lie” and “a desperate attempt to distract” from political issues.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Vance had said two days earlier, on The Benny Johnson Show, that “we actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America.”
After the quotation
Fox News Digital’s live blog reported the statement on March 29 as an emailed statement, and Newsweek reported on March 30 that McNutt shared it with Newsweek.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
McNutt rejects the accusation as “a ridiculous lie” and a “desperate attempt to distract,” and attacks the accuser’s credibility. That is criticism of the accusation itself, not only a dispute over facts. The closest competing label is “Challenged the characterization”, because he calls the claim false; it loses because he also denounces the accusation’s motive and timing.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- JD Vance
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- Omar’s chief of staff calls Vice President Vance’s immigration-fraud claim “a ridiculous lie”
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The Dispute Index. "Omar’s chief of staff calls Vice President Vance’s immigration-fraud claim “a ridiculous lie”". First published: 2026-09-20. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1251-in-an-emailed-statement-to-fox-news-digital