On her Twitter page, US Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN), posted a fan pic by artist Benjamin Sawyer that shows her with a Gundam - the giant military-style mecha robots created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise.
In an earlier tweet, Omar said she was "standing by and ready to suit up" into the life-size moving RX-0 Unicorn Gundam statue that stands 19.7 meters tall outside the Diver City Shopping Center in Tokyo's Odaiba district. Since last year, fans have run a campaign on Twitter titled, "Give Ilhan Omar a Gundam," asking that the congresswoman be given her own mobile suit.
Originally, an RX-78-2 Gundam statue was constructed in 2009 in honor of Gundam's 30th anniversary. Standing 18 meters outside the Diver City Shopping Center, it was built for the Gundam Global Challenge, which was announced in 2015. The goal was to create a full-sized Gundam that could walk for the Mobile Suit Gundam series' 40th anniversary in 2019. Fans were shocked, however, when the statue was removed in 2017.
Little did they know that it was being replaced by the larger RX-0 Unicorn Gundam statue, which was scheduled for a debut at the Gundam Factory Yokohama on October 1. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the debut was delayed. Although the official debut date of the statue has yet to be announced, it is now expected to take place in 2021.
Omar, who is serving her first term in Congress, has become a favorite among young progressives for supporting the Green New Deal and student loan forgiveness. She’s also known for being a member of The Squad, a group of freshmen congresswomen of color from four different states, which includes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
Omar, who escaped the Civil War in Somalia, arrived in New York with her family in 1995. She eventually graduated from North Dakota State University in 2011 with a bachelor's degree, majoring in political science and international studies. She was elected to the US House of Representatives in 2018.
Source: Anime News Network