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Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke October 10, 2023

Donald Trump was quoting U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar when he said Israel hypnotized the world

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  • Former President Donald Trump was quoting U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., when he said, "Israel has hypnotized the world."

Former President Donald Trump has condemned Hamas’ recent attack on Israel, but some social media accounts may mislead users to believe otherwise. 

"Israel has hypnotized the world," Trump says in a video being shared on Facebook. "May Allah awaken the people and help them to see the evil doings of Israel and the United States."

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

The clip is authentic. Trump said those words at an October 2019 rally  in Minneapolis. 

But his remarks are taken out of context here. He was quoting U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who, in 2012, seven years before being elected to Congress, tweeted: "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel." 

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She apologized for the tweet in 2019. 

In his rally speech that year, Trump made clear he was reciting Omar’s words and not making a political statement of his own. 

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"Omar wrote that Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel and the United States. How do you have such a person representing you in Minnesota?"

Trump isn’t the first lawmaker to have his remarks taken out of context. Quotes attributed to President Joe Biden, in which he appeared to use a racial slur, failed to note that he was quoting a memo. 

We rate claims that these are Trump’s own words about Israel False.

 

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Donald Trump was quoting U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar when he said Israel hypnotized the world

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