US state politician Ilhan Omar says she holds Trump 'exclusively responsible' for the rise in Islamophobia in the US.

Hers is a remarkable journey: from a refugee camp in Kenya to a state legislature in the United States. In 2016, Ilhan Omar became the first elected Somali-American Muslim legislator in the US, the same night that Donald Trump was elected president.

When asked about Trump's role in the rise of anti-Muslim, far-right, white nationalist hate groups in the country, Omar says she would come very short of holding him "exclusively responsible".

"I think when you ... demonise and dehumanise, it is easy for people to commit acts of violence against those individuals because they no longer see them as a person, as someone who has feelings, who's worthy of respect," says Omar.

"We are moving away from this idea that we are supposed to be a welcoming nation."

In this Special Interview, we speak with Minnesota State Representative Ilhan Omar about Trump and the rise of Islamophobia in the US.

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Source: Al Jazeera News