Ilhan Omar Calls Minneapolis Mayor 'Incompetent' In Public Spat

MINNEAPOLIS — There's no love lost between centrist-liberal Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar. The two are now publicly sparring following the congresswoman's narrow victory in Tuesday's primary.

In the week before the election, Frey endorsed Omar's pro-police candidate, Don Samuels. Samuels performed much better than political analysts were predicting, though he still ended up losing.

One of the key issues that Frey and Omar disagree about is public safety.

Following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis officers, Omar supported dismantling and replacing the city's police department. She backed the failed 2021 ballot measure that would have done so.

In the same election cycle, Omar also encouraged voes to kick Frey out of office, which also didn't happen.

On Tuesday, Omar won by less than 2,500 votes. Two years earlier, Omar crushed her primary opponent — Antone Melton-Meaux — by 35,011 votes.

Frey believes this year's primary shows that many constituents are not happy with Omar.

"It’s not just about sending out vitriolic tweets and being mean spirited. It’s about working with people," Frey told FOX 9 on Tuesday after the results came in.

"Nobody’s asking anybody to shift their beliefs or shift what they believe in. But shift at least to be able to work with other people on top issues as opposed to making it about yourself."

Omar shot back on Wednesday, tweeting "Our incompetent Mayor gets upset when we talk about his failures, but as the Mayor he is solely in charge of our city, it’s police & public safety," Omar said.

"No matter how much media covers for him, people know our city is suffering because of his poor leadership and childish behavior."

Frey and Omar don't encounter each other much in an official capacity. Frey's work is at the local level, while Omar represents her constituents in Washington, D.C.

However, the rivalry between two Minneapolis-area politicians is an example of the ongoing divisions that exist within the Democratic Party between progressives and