During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing held by Senate Republicans to examine alleged Somali fraud in Minnesota, Senato and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-IL) delivered a sharp rebuke of Donald Trump, calling out the president for stoking racism and undermining the nation’s immigration system.
In his remarks, Durbin pointed to a racist, now-deleted video that Trump shared on Truth Social depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.
Durbin, who served alongside Obama in the U.S. Senate and was the first senator to endorse his 2008 presidential campaign, called the image “disgusting” and “demeaning.”
“They are my personal friends,” Durbin said. “Barack was my colleague. I was the first senator to endorse him for president. I resent what President Trump created—an image that was so demeaning to this man and his wife.”
Although Trump’s staff later removed the post, Durbin noted, the president still refuses to apologize. “The words ‘I’m sorry’ are not in the president’s vocabulary,” he said.
Durbin: ‘It Is Time We Reject These Racist Attacks’
Durbin argued that the incident was part of a broader pattern of racist rhetoric from the president, particularly toward Somali immigrants. He noted that Trump had repeatedly used bigoted language to disparage the community and had expressed hostility toward immigrants from certain countries, using degrading words like “garbage” to describe them.
During stated that kind of rhetoric from the president has carried over into policy. He called out the administration for pursuing a harsh mass deportation campaign while diverting resources away from fraud investigations.
Durbin emphasized that fraud should be prosecuted and noted that the Minnesota investigation itself began under the Justice Department during former President Joe Biden’s administration. He argued that refugees—whom he described as some of the most vulnerable and heavily vetted people in the country—should not be subjected to sweeping enforcement actions.
“We can target fraud without shackling and detaining them in the dead of night,” he said.
Durbin closed by urging the committee to reject such racist attacks and to focus instead on restoring “order and humanity” to the immigration system.
