In an invective posted to the Truth Social platform on Thanksgiving, President Trump used a slur for people with intellectual disabilities to describe Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Mr. Trump also used racially and religiously prejudiced language against Rep. Ilhan Omar and said Somali refugees are “completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota.”
Walz responded to Mr. Trump’s insult on X, saying only, “Release the MRI results” — a reference to Mr. Trump’s comments last month that he had an MRI during a recent checkup and received “perfect” results.
WCCO reached out to Walz’s office for comment and was directed to the post above. WCCO has also asked Omar’s office for a statement.
Walz unsuccessfully campaigned opposite Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance as Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 presidential election.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump also ordered all green cards from Somalia and 18 other countries be reexamined. Days earlier, he said he would terminate temporary protected status for Somalis in Minnesota, claiming, without evidence, that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great state.”
Somali leaders in the state, as well as Democratic lawmakers and advocates, have spoken out against Mr. Trump’s attacks on the community.
Minnesota’s Council on American-Islamic Relations on Friday called on Mr. Trump and “all political leaders” to “temper their language.”
Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the U.S., roughly 80,000, according to Minnesota Compass, a project of Wilder Research.
Mr. Trump also said late Thursday night he would suspend immigration “from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover.” The president did not clarify when such a move might take effect or how the pause would be implemented. He also did not disclose which countries would fall under such a designation.
CBS News has reached out to the White House for clarification.
The latest escalation of the Trump administration’s stance on immigration comes after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., killing one of them and leaving the other critically wounded.
Caroline Cummings,
Camilo Montoya-Galvez,
Ahmad Mukhtar,
Jennifer Jacobs and
Faris Tanyos
contributed to this report.
More from CBS News
