Rep. Ilhan Omar Blasts Kevin McCarthy As A ‘Liar And A Coward’ For ‘Inability’ To Condemn GOP Islamophobia
United States Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Illinois) over the weekend blasted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) for refusing to take disciplinary action against Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado), who referred to Omar as a terrorist and member of the “Jihad Squad” during a town hall on Thanksgiving Day.
“What it is like “to hear that kind of blatant bigotry, blatant Islamophobia, coming from a fellow elected member of the House of Representatives?” CNN host Jake Tapper asked Omar on Sunday’s edition of State of the Union.
“It’s shocking and unacceptable, and, you know, it’s very unbecoming of a Congresswoman to use that kind of derogatory, dangerous, inciting language against a colleague. Many of us thought, you know, post 9-11 that we were on the mends,” Omar said.
Tapper pointed out that McCarthy “has still not publicly condemned Boebert’s comments,” which is true. On Friday, the man hoping to become the next Speaker of the House suggested that the subject was settled because Boebert apologized to Omar on Twitter and over the phone.
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Yet after their call, which Omar ended when Boebert demanded an apology from her, Boebert hopped back onto Twitter and doubled down on her hateful comments toward Omar, which McCarthy never acknowledged.
“What’s your reaction to McCarthy and how he described it?” Tapper queried.
“Yeah, McCarthy is a liar and a coward. 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,” Omar replied.
“Why doesn’t he have the ability to do that?” Tapper interjected.
“Because this is who they are,” Omar continued, referring to House Republicans, “and we have to stand up to them and we have to push them to reckon with the fact that their party right now is normalizing anti-Muslim bigotry.”
When Tapper noted that four GOP lawmakers had come to Omar’s defense, Omar reminded him that “they are being attacked for condemning it” by their right-wing confederates, such as Boebert and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), “which tells you that their conference condones this and that’s why it’s dangerous.”
Omar added that she has “had a conversation with” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and that she is “very confident” that Pelosi “will take decisive action” on punishing Boebert.
“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,” Omar said of the Speaker. “She fulfilled that promise. She’s made another promise to me she will take care of this, and I believe her.”
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