George Santos' Lies Spark Talk of Ilhan Omar 'Marrying Her Brother'

After incoming GOP congressman George Santos recently admitted to making up details of his personal and professional life, some people have responded to the news by resurfacing unproven allegations that Representative Ilhan Omar married her brother.

"While we're on the topic of George Santos being a serial liar, can we investigate Ilhan Omar for marrying her brother?" Lavern Spicer, a former Republican candidate for a U.S. House seat in Florida, tweeted Tuesday.

Santos, who was elected to represent New York's 3rd Congressional District in November's midterms, admitted in a Monday interview with the New York Post to "embellishing my résumé." He confirmed previous reporting by The New York Times that he did not graduate from college or work for Citigroup or Goldman Sachs, and does not own 13 properties, despite previous claims to the contrary.

Though Santos is facing resignation calls over the revelations, he said that he still plans to take the oath of office and take his seat in the House on January 3. Following his revelations, Spicer was not the only figure to promote the unproven allegation about Omar on Tuesday.

"We'll worry about Santos embellishing his resume as soon as Ilhan Omar comes clean about marrying her brother as part of a scheme to defraud the United States and skirt our immigration laws," Arthur Schwartz tweeted.

Such allegations regarding Omar, a Democratic lawmaker for Minnesota, have circulated for years. Former President Donald Trump and GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene are among those who have amplified the claim.

Those who have backed the allegation say that Omar married her brother to help him obtain American citizenship.

Greene wrote in a September 2021 tweet: "@IlhanMN marriage fraud is a felony. Free upgrades are nice on airlines, but marrying your bother to give him an upgrade is a felony I look forward to make sure is investigated."

The Georgia Republican took aim at Omar again on Tuesday.

"George Santos lied about his resume, and the left is demanding he resign. Ilhan Omar says she didn't marry her brother, she lied," Greene tweeted. She offered several other examples of people she also accused of lying.

Fact-checking organization PolitiFact reported in 2019 that there is no evidence either proving or disproving that Omar married her brother.

Omar has fiercely pushed back on the allegations. In 2019, she called them "disgusting lies," according to the Associated Press.

Another statement released by her office in response to the accusation said: "Whether by colluding with right-wing outlets to go after Muslim elected officials or hounding family members, legitimate media outlets have a responsibility not to fan the flames of hate. Continuing to do so is not only demeaning to Ilhan, but to her entire family."

Newsweek reached out to Omar's office for comment.

Update 12/27/22, 1:35 p.m. ET: This story was updated with information about a Tuesday tweet from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.