Originally posted October 22, 2026 at 3:20 p.m. CDT. Reported circumstances and forecasts reflect that date.

Watch: HCE edited clip or original MS NOW interview. The article image is a video still.

Context: The allegation regarding Omar’s former husband has not been substantiated. Omar denies wrongdoing; the investigation does not establish guilt.

In her first interview since federal agents searched her Washington home, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota was asked about a claim that has followed her since 2016: that a man she once married was her brother.

The interview was with Chris Hayes of MS NOW's "All In with Chris Hayes" and was released Wednesday, Oct. 21. Hayes noted that President Trump has repeated the claim. "There are right-wing people who believe that this man was your brother," Hayes said. "You have called it a disgusting lie."

Omar said the claim "started with the Somali blog" and was picked up by "right-wing conspiracy theorists in Minneapolis." She said they "found random people" who claimed she had introduced the man as her brother, "which is, you know, insane. I mean, I don't know those people that they talk about."

Hayes then said, "You were not related to him at all."

Omar began, "Not that, not to my..." as Hayes followed up: "There's not some weird kernel of truth through some game of telephone?"

Omar answered, "Not to my knowledge."

The claim about her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, has never been proven. In 2016, Omar called suggestions that he is her brother "absurd and offensive," according to FOX 9. Snopes rates the claim "unfounded" and says it found no credible evidence that the two are siblings.

Federal authorities are investigating possible fraud in her family's immigration paperwork, according to The Associated Press. The New York Post, citing anonymous sources, reported this week that prosecutors plan to use DNA evidence in the case. No such evidence has been made public. As of Thursday, Omar has not been charged with a crime, and she has denied wrongdoing.

We trimmed the video for length from MS NOW's full interview, which is on MS NOW's website and YouTube channel.

Video credit: MS NOW, All In with Chris Hayes, October 21, 2026. HCE shortened the video for Facebook.