Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on Sunday said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has assured her that “decisive action” will be taken next week against Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), following the far-right extremist’s refusal to issue a public apology after insinuating that the Minnesota Democrat is a terrorist.
Appearing on CNN, Omar said that after a recent conversation with Pelosi, she is “very confident” that the House speaker will “take decisive action” against Boebert next week.
“As you know, when I first got to Congress, I was worried that I wasn’t going to be allowed to be sworn in because there was a ban on the hijab. She promised me that she would take care of it. She fulfilled that promise,” Omar said. “She’s made another promise to me that she will take care of this. And I believe her.”
Omar also took aim at Boebert for her “shocking and unacceptable” comments, referring to the Colorado Republican telling a false story about getting into an elevator at the Capitol with a Capitol Police officer and supposedly joking that “the jihad squad decided to show up for work today” when Omar entered. She also claimed she told the officer that they were safe because Omar wasn’t wearing a backpack.
Last week, Omar hung up on Boebert after the far-right lawmaker double down on her non-apology — saying that she apologizes to the Muslim community for her remarks, but not to Omar herself — over the phone.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has continued to defend Boebert. During a press conference on Friday, McCarthy said he would not sanction Boebert, insisting that she apologized “publicly” and “personally” to Omar.
Omar swiped at McCarthy for defending Boebert during her appearance on CNN.
“McCarthy is a liar and a coward,” Omar said. “He doesn’t have the ability to condemn the kind of bigoted Islamophobia and anti-Muslim rhetoric that are being trafficked by a member of his conference.”
Asked why she thinks the House minority leader doesn’t have the ability to condemn Islamophobic attacks waged by those in his caucus, Omar replied it’s because “this is who they (GOP) are.”
“And we have to be able to stand up to them,” Omar said. “And we have to push them to reckon with the fact that their party right now is normalizing anti-Muslim bigotry.”
Omar’s remarks come days after House progressives issued a statement calling for Boebert to be stripped from her committee assignments. House progressives released their statement after Omar revealed a death threat she received as a voicemail while urging House Republican leaders to take action against “anti-Muslim hatred.” Additionally, another video surfaced last week showing Boebert calling Omar a terrorist in a xenophobic and anti-Muslim speech during a Staten Island Conservative Party dinner in September.
If Boebert is stripped of her committees, it would make her the third House Republican this year to lose committee assignments. Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) were stripped of their committees over social media posts musing about violence against Democratic lawmakers. McCarthy, however, has promised to give Greene and Gosar their committee seats back if the GOP retakes the majority next year.
Watch Omar’s remarks below:
