WHEN CONSERVATIVE PUNDIT Benny Johnson interviewed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on the sidelines of the Republican convention last week, it was supposed to be a layup for the cabinet member.
asserted
it → interview → member
“You’ve deported all the MS-13, so I’m going to start a new gang: White Boy Gang!” the excitable Johnson said, providing an early indication of the soft treatment Mullin faced.
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Mullin → deport → treatment
Mullin chuckled.
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Mullin → chuckle → ?
But Johnson’s antics may have given him a false sense of security.
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antics → give → security
At the interview’s conclusion, Johnson asked when the federal government would, at long last, deport Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) for supposedly marrying her brother.
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government → ask → brother
“Something’s going to happen,” Mullin assured Johnson, putting his hand on Johnson’s shoulder.
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Mullin → go → shoulder
“We know that she married her brother to try to bring him into the United States.”
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she → know → States
He mumbled on a bit more.
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He → mumble → ?
“Here’s what I want to make sure we do,” Mullin said.
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Mullin → ’ → what
“If we actually move a case forward, it’s not a political case, it’s an actual case, because they did things wrong.”
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they → move → things
Mullin didn’t really have anything further to offer on that.
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Mullin → have → that
And even the normally obsequious Johnson seemed piqued with his response.
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Johnson → seem → response
(At one point, he even rolled his eyes.)
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he → roll → eyes
It turns out that Johnson’s reaction was a sign of things to come.
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reaction → turn → things
Mullin’s muddling about whether the Trump administration will fulfill a long-dreamed-of MAGA promise and deport Omar has infuriated right-wing pundits, putting more pressure on the embattled homeland security secretary.
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administration → muddle → secretary
“Okay, great, if we know that, what are we doing?” the Blaze host Sara Gonzales said on her show in reaction to Mullin’s interview.
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Gonzales → know → interview
“That’s very illegal, right?” the conservative influencer Xaviaer DuRousseau replied.
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influencer → ’ → ?
“Is that not enough to prosecute her?”
In fact, it’s not.
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it → prosecute → fact
Because much to the chagrin of Johnson, Gonzales, DuRousseau, and others, the idea that Omar married her brother is based on some of the least credible evidence ever put forward in right-wing media.
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Omar → marry → media
It certainly wouldn’t stand up in court.
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It → stand → court
The whole thing, in fact, boils down to a single anonymous post on a Somali-American web forum.1
But the untrustworthy provenance of the Omar brother-marriage story hasn’t put an end to years of pro-Trump commentary that takes it as a given.
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that → boil → given
Nor has it put an end to the repeated suggestions from Trump administration officials that Omar’s deportation is right around the corner.
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deportation → put → corner
In May, Vice President JD Vance said the Justice Department was investigating Omar for immigration fraud in connection with her former marriage.
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Department → say → marriage
Like many of the pledges that people in Trump world make to prosecute and deport the president’s political enemies, this pledge has also run into legal hurdles and an actual reality that is not very accommodating to their goals.
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that → make → goals
And it appears that Mullin is now set to take the blame for the absence of any action.
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Mullin → appear → action
Right-wing media influencer Laura Loomer, who once traveled to Minneapolis in her own fruitless attempt to prove Omar married her brother, fumed after the Mullin interview that Omar was somehow being protected from deportation.
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Omar → travel → deportation
“What’s the point of talking about it if you aren’t actually going to hold anyone accountable?” Loomer tweeted.
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Loomer → ’ → it
Maybe you’re new to The Bulwark.
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you → ’re → Bulwark
Or maybe you’ve been reading us for months without subscribing.
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you → read → months
Join the side you’re already on.
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you → join → side
On Saturday, Lahren devoted much of her show to claiming the DHS secretary was using Omar’s case as a sideshow to distract from the perceived lack of larger-scale deportations.
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secretary → devote → deportations
“If they want to do an investigation, do an investigation,” she said.
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she → want → investigation
But whether Omar married her brother wouldn’t “get people out to vote,” Lahren said.
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Lahren → marry → people
“What’s going to get people out to vote for Republicans is promises made, promises kept.”
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people → go → Republicans
Lahren accused Mullin of blowing off her requests for an interview more than a dozen times.
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Lahren → accuse → interview
“I don’t want to hear him answering questions from influencers to own the libs,” she said.
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she → want → libs
“Owning the libs is so fun.
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Owning → own → libs
I enjoy it, too.
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I → enjoy → it
What I enjoy more is ten million illegal aliens being deported, because that was the promise of mass deportations.”
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that → enjoy → deportations
The list of Mullin’s detractors over the Omar issue has continued to grow in the days since he spoke to Johnson.
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he → continue → Johnson
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
