The short video clip above shows Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar referring to World War II as “World War Eleven.” The clip has been reposted by numerous social media accounts and has collectively drawn millions of views. Some versions leave out the Congresswoman quickly correcting herself and smiling at her own gaffe.
Omar’s “speako” has also spawned many memes, like…
All in good fun…except that if Donald Trump made a gaffe like that my Trump Deranged Facebook friends would be screaming that it was time to invoke the 25th Amendment. I am willing to accept the protests of Democrats that Omar’s incident was a forgivable momentary botch with no greater significance and not proof that she misunderstands Roman numerals or lacks a basic knowledge of history…if they stop using Trump’s occassional verbal stumbles as evidence that he is demented.
And you know they won’t.
On the other hand…what the hell? How can someone who has read anything about World War II and seen the numbering as often as educated Americans do—what, hundreds of times? Thousands?—make that mistake? Several years ago, a local news hostess was fired after making the same error; the assumption was that she must be an idiot. Maybe because my sister and I were immersed in World War II history, lore and memorabilia from the time we could speak, this particular gaffe seems particularly weird to me. If Omar pronounced “USA” as “ussa,” would it be reasonable for us to shrug it off as a mistake any member of Congress could make? This is an elected official, after all, whose American bona fides are tad shaky.
Now, now, Jack. You have exonerated Obama for saying there were more than 50 states, and yourself for mixing up this guy…
….with this guy…
so let’s not jump to conclusions about Rep. Omar just because she has said her first duty is to Somalians.
Ethics Alarms 
Foundation “myths” are essential cultural knowledge- I get a kick out of the second generation Japanese American who enthusiastically partakes in revolutionary war reenactments. Because as an American- while the revolutionary war was predominantly and Anglo-American civil war- it’s just as much his as it is modern Anglo Americans.
Among many of our foundational “myths” which include the revolution and the civil war- is World War II.
That kind of flub can imply (with other evidence) you aren’t “cultically” American (not a typo). And if you aren’t such, you have no business being a representative. And odds are you were elected by people who are also not so immersed in America that they should be trusted to elect anyone.
Full disclosure: World War II has been a primary interest of mine since the mid 1980s.
Rep. Omar hails from Somalia, which is Ethiopia’s neighbor. Ethiopia was fighting World War II (against Mussolini) before the war officially started. If nothing else, she should be well aware of that. I can’t tell you how many times Haile Salassie has been either part of a question or an answer on “Jeopardy.” Furthermore, the true global scope of the conflict means nearly every country on the planet – including Somalia – has an extensive historical record of its involvement.
And as an American citizen, there is no excuse for misreading “WWII” as anything other than “World War Two”. I would question any citizen’s grasp of any sense of history if they read what Rep. Omar the same way she did. And I would definitely ask what, if any, actual history education he/she received in middle/high school.
Ilhan Omar gets no pass from me on this one.
Exactly.
And who doesn’t know how many world wars there have been, other than in Hollywood.
Merely to play devils advocate, the names of historical events can differ over both regional and temporal distances.
If Ethiopia didn’t participate in WW I, a person could presumably assume they could refer to WW II as “The Great War”.
I’m mostly annoyed that Internet meme culture had me, for days, knowing someone gaffed the name. Who made the gaff wasn’t clear until see it here.
Do they teach Roman numerals at the learing center?
I’ll bet that she was just reading from a teleprompter, and her mind was not engaged between her eyes and mouth. Sort of like the newsman saying “This just in! … You seem to have spinach caught between your front teeth.”
She’s reading from a piece of paper and talking about the use of the Alien Enemies Act last having been used against German, Japanese and Italian immigrants during World War Two.
Where’s her head scarf. I’ve never seen her without it? What’s going on there?
I think I’ve seen her in that headgear or something like it before.
I guess it’s a wig? Which technically means her head is “covered?”
Looks like there’s a tie in the front. I think it’s some kind of thin headscarf.
The fact that she corrected herself right away would indeed indicate that she was reading notes and her brain just didn’t register the correct term right away. My opinion of Omar aside, I think this isn’t a big deal. It would be more troubling if she didn’t catch herself at all.
Good points.
Probably not as bad as Obama’s “Marine Corpse.” Editor in chief of the Harvard Law Review?
In the LA debate among mayoral candidates this week, Karen Bass said “fire fucks” instead of “fire trucks.”
She was probably all fired up to get a “fuck” into her contributions to show her bona fides as a Democrat. She was probably running out of time and panicked.
Momentary goof, she realized it in the moment and corrected herself.
Nothing to see here.
Golden Rule.
–Dwayne