Part of: Racism, Immigration, and Minority Caucuses · Ilhan Omar
Mace tweets: 'Why did Ilhan Omar marry her brother? Immigration fraud? Brotherly love?'
On September 17, 2025, during her push to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar, Mace posted a tweet invoking the unsupported claim that Omar married her brother to gain U.S. citizenship. The public-record fact check: Omar legally married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009, but Snopes, PolitiFact, Africa Check and Fox have all described the brother-marriage allegation as unsupported, unresolved, or unsubstantiated.
On September 17, 2025, during her push to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar, Mace posted on X (@RepNancyMace):
"Why did Ilhan Omar marry her brother? Immigration fraud? Brotherly love?"
Omar has repeatedly denied the claim. The public-record fact check is narrower than Mace's framing: Omar legally married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009, but the claim that Elmi is her brother has circulated for years without a credible public record proving it. Snopes has treated the allegation as a longstanding rumor lacking verified evidence; PolitiFact summarized the Minneapolis Star Tribune's investigation as unable to conclusively confirm or rebut it; Africa Check found no evidence Omar married her brother; and a December 2025 Fox News report described the brother-marriage claim as unsubstantiated.
Mace also referred to Omar as "Somalia Ilhan Omar" and wrote: "Who knows, maybe it'll be about you marrying your brother next! Tune in!" The same allegation resurfaced after Mace's June 2026 fifth-place finish in the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary, when she replied to Omar: "Say what you want about me, but I would never marry my brother."
How this fits the Omar file
This post sits inside a larger Mace-Omar arc. On the same day, Mace posted that Omar had a "one-way ticket to Somalia" and pushed a censure resolution built on a quote Omar said she never made. In May 2026, Mace introduced a constitutional amendment to bar naturalized citizens from serving in Congress, naming Omar as one of the examples. In June 2026, days after her gubernatorial primary loss, Mace again used Omar as a target in posts about deportation and the brother-marriage smear.
For the consolidated public-record summary, including the Ahmed Elmi fact check, see Ilhan Omar.
Source: X (Nancy Mace) · archived
Related: Ilhan Omar · "One-way ticket to Somalia" · Mace's Omar censure resolution built on a quote Omar never said · Mace's post-loss X tear · Mace calls deporting "Somalia-first" Ilhan Omar the best "250th birthday present to America"
