Overview
- The 13-second excerpt, which resurfaced Monday, drew millions of views after conservative accounts on X reposted it to mock Rep. Ilhan Omar.
- Newsweek and Lead Stories on Tuesday verified the original January 22, 2025 press conference video and showed she said “World War Eleven,” then immediately corrected to “two.”
- Her remarks came at a Washington, D.C. event backing the Neighbors Not Enemies Act and criticized the Alien Enemies Act’s World War II use to detain and deport German, Japanese, and Italian immigrants.
- Posts by Libs of TikTok and the account I Meme Therefore I Am fueled the pile-on, with figures like Sen. Mike Lee and commentator Matt Walsh joining in and Elon Musk reacting.
- Some early write-ups called the clip unverified, and fact-checkers noted that style guides use Roman numerals for the world wars, which can look like “11” and help explain the brief slip.