Beauty queen who fled Iraq, became US citizen wants to upend leftists like AOC, Ilhan Omar as a member of Congress

A beauty queen who fled Iraq and became an American citizen told Fox News on Monday that she wants to take on leftists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar as a member of Congress.

What are the details?

Sarah Idan was born in Baghdad, lived under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, and worked as a translator for the U.S. Army during the Iraq War, the cable network said. Idan also was Miss Iraq in 2017 but soon fled her home country and became a U.S. citizen, Fox News added.

But while she wants to take on "The Squad" and other leftists on Capitol Hill, Idan is no Republican.

"Let me be perfectly clear, I do stand for old-fashioned, classic liberal values, but when I see people like Ilhan Omar, like AOC and ‘The Squad,’ and how they are trying to pull our party to the far left, I have to say something," Idan told the cable network.

She added that "far-left voices like ‘The Squad' ... 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, and we do love this country and want to make it better."

Idan, 33, also told Fox News that her status as a Muslim immigrant woman is far from a majority among Democrats, and she wants to put a dent in that: "That's why I'm trying to run, just to represent people like me, who think like me, but we don't have a voice."

The Los Angeles resident added to the cable network that, if elected, she'd prioritize issues such as the spikes in crime and inflation as well as failing foreign and domestic policies.

More from Fox News:

Idan previously denounced antisemitism from Islamic extremists, saying they push hatred of Jews as a way to gain power in the Middle East. She even caught flak from Iraqi media when she posted a selfie with Miss Israel, Adar Gandelsman at a 2017 pageant 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," Idan 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."

Idan told the cable network that many Americans don't perceive the privilege they possess just by living in the U.S., and that it's much easier for her to see it because of where she came from.

"[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 that I meet on the street. I have a voice, I have a platform," she added to Fox News. "I can say anything I want without the fear of being killed or executed. There are a million reasons to be a proud American, and sadly I think a lot of people, they take it for granted."

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