Rep. Lauren Boebert Apologizes For ‘Jihad Squad’ Swipe At Rep. Ilhan Omar

United States Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) issued an apology on Friday after she made disparaging comments about Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Illinois) at a local town hall on Thanksgiving Day.

Boebert told a room of supporters, who erupted into laughter:

Actually I have an Ilhan story for you. So, the other night on the House floor was not my first ‘Jihad Squad’ moment. So I was getting into an elevator with one of my staffers. You know, we’re leaving the Capitol and we’re going back to my office and we get an elevator and I see a Capitol police officer running to the elevator. I see fret all over his face, and he’s reaching, and the door’s shutting, like I can’t open it, like what’s happening. I look to my left, and there she is. Ilhan Omar. And I said, ‘Well, she doesn’t have a backpack, we should be fine.’ We only had one floor to go. I said, ‘Oh look, the Jihad Squad decided to show up for work today. Don’t worry. It’s just her staffers on Twitter that talk for her, she’s not tough in person. So … there’s a little bit of interactions with these folks.

Boebert’s comment was recorded and posted to Twitter.

“If Lauren Boebert, at a campaign event, suggested Ilhan Omar was a threat to blow up the US Capitol Building, is that enough for Boebert to be stripped of committee assignments?” PatriotTakes tweeted along with the video. “Over the Thanksgiving break, Lauren Boebert said she was recently in a Capitol elevator with Ilhan Omar when a fretful Capitol police officer ran up. Lauren Boebert said: ‘Well, she doesn’t have a backpack. We should be fine.’ Boebert then called Ilhan Omar, ‘jihad squad.'”

“Fact, this buffoon looks down when she sees me at the Capitol, this whole story is made up. Sad she thinks bigotry gets her clout,” Omar tweeted in response to Boebert. “Anti-Muslim bigotry isn’t funny & shouldn’t be normalized. Congress can’t be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation.”

On Friday, Boebert apologized to Omar on Twitter.

“I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep. Omar. I have reached out to her office to speak with her directly. There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without this unnecessary distraction,” Boebert said.

But that did not diminish the impact of Boebert’s off-the-cuff choice of words. An hour after she said that she was sorry, Omar called upon House leadership to discipline her colleague.

“Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter. [House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California)] and [Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California)] need to take appropriate action, normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims. Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress,” wrote Omar.

Calls also emerged for Boebert to be censured.

Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the national deputy director of the Council for American-Islamic Relations, said called Boebert’s rhetoric “disgusting” and “merely the latest symptom of the anti-Muslim bigotry that has plagued the Republican caucus in the House for years” in a statement on Friday afternoon. “Leader McCarthy should repudiate Representative Boebert’s remarks and call on all Republican members of Congress to treat their American Muslim colleagues and constituents with the respect and decency everyone deserves.”

As of Monday, Boebert has not faced any consequences for her comments.