The former beauty queen who represented Iraq in Miss Universe 2017 has now set her sights on representing Californians in Congress, telling “Fox & Friends First” on Monday she has plans to run for office and promised to challenge the “woke” faction of her own party in the process.
Sarah Idan, who was born in Baghdad and lived under Saddam Hussein’s regime, worked as a translator for the U.S. Army during the Iraq War before fleeing the country and eventually becoming a U.S. citizen. While she is challenging the extremist wing of her own party, the California Democrat emphasizes that she still identifies with conventional liberalism, Fox News reported.
“Let me be clear, I do stand for old-fashioned, classic liberal values, but when I see people like Ilhan Omar, AOC and ‘The Squad’ who are trying to pull our party to the far left, I have to say something,” she told the Fox morning show.
“Sadly, these far-left voices, like ‘The Squad,’ they are very loud, and they do talk a lot. They get a lot of attention from the media, but I do believe there are a lot of Democrats who don’t agree with them, who love this country and want to make it better,” she added.
The 33-year-old potential politician said that she believes people who share her identity as a Muslim immigrant woman are not sufficiently represented in the Democratic Party and are not accurately depicted by the media’s portrayal of the party either, Fox News noted.
“That’s why I’m trying to run, just to represent people like me, who think like me but don’t have a voice,” she added.
During an interview with Todd Piro and Ashley Strohmier, she stated that if she wins the election, her primary focus would be on issues such as crime, inflation, and foreign and domestic policy, with a particular emphasis on meeting the needs of her district located near Los Angeles. She mentioned that crime has surged by 11% in the region within a year, and this is a crucial concern that needs to be addressed, the network noted.
Idan had previously condemned anti-Semitism perpetrated by Islamic extremists, pointing out that they use hatred towards Jews to gain power in the Middle East. In fact, she received backlash from the Iraqi media when she posted a selfie with Miss Israel, Adar Gandelsman, during the 2017 pageant held in Las Vegas.
“I was in Miss Universe and I took a selfie with Miss Israel, which caused the Iraqi government to decide to take my Iraqi citizenship from me,” she said in an interview at the time. “Basically my family ended up leaving Iraq. I had to leave Iraq just for taking a selfie with Miss Israel.”
The following year, she visited Israel, saying she wanted “peace for everyone, for Israelis, for Palestinians.”
Idan expressed her opinion that many Americans do not realize their privilege, but she is proud to reside in the U.S. since she can recognize and acknowledge her own good fortune.
“They [other Americans] did not have the hardships that we had – being an immigrant, coming from Iraq, living under a dictatorship, having absolutely no voice no rights, and I couldn’t even voice my concerns. I came here [and] I’m treated as an equal to every person I meet on the street. I have a voice, I have a platform,” she told Fox & Friends First.
“I can say anything I want without the fear of being killed of executed. There are a million reasons to be a proud American, and I think a lot of people sadly take it for granted,” she said.
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