Left: Somali-born activist, author and former Dutch lawmaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Right: President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. (Christian Marquardt/Getty Images; Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
In response, Hirsi Ali told Fox News Digital that Trump is communicating a critical truth.
"I don't think it's an important thing, I think it is the most important thing," she said. "Trump is right … and I can't think of a better and more powerful platform than that of the president of the United States to say, ‘Hey, you guys wake up.’"
As a child in Somalia, Hirsi Ali was subjected to a severe form of female genital mutilation. Later in life, she fled the country to escape a forced marriage and served as a Dutch lawmaker. She is now based in the U.S. and uses her platform to advocate for women’s rights, critique Islam and voice support for Western greatness.
"I think every American and every European should know that what the president is trying to say is that what made America and Europe great is there's this unique culture, if we don’t understand that culture and if we do not defend it, we risk losing it," she said.
"The economy is very important. Military is very important. All these other aspects of government are extremely important, but more important than all of that is our value system and it's our heritage and it is our national identity."
Regarding Trump’s critique of the Somali immigrant population’s involvement in the massive Minnesota fraud scheme, Hirsi Ali said, "I wholeheartedly agree with the president."
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Author Ayaan Hirsi Ali attends a book presentation of 'Refurbished you! Why Islam must change' on April 20, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. (Christian Marquardt/Getty Images)
"We've got to force them either to assimilate, or we've got to give them that choice and say, ‘If you don't want to assimilate into American society, then you will be denaturalized,’" she said.
"This isn't just like, oh yeah, it's another day in politics, it's existential."
Hirsi Ali called Trump’s Davos speech a "breakthrough" in getting European leaders to understand that defending Western civilization must be "priority number one."
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"JD Vance put it this way: [It's] not what are we fighting against, but what are we fighting for? What are we fighting to preserve? If you can't answer that question, then I think you are lost, and the European leaders are lost, and I think he's trying to help them find their way," she said.
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/somali-born-activist-praises-trumps-stark-warning-davos-speech-priority-number-one