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Rep. Lauren Boebert remains in hot water after making islamophobic comments about fellow congresswoman Ilhan Omar. This morning, Boebert's colleague, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, publicly called for her to be removed from all congressional committees.
“The fact is that Congresswoman Omar is a Black, immigrant and visibly Muslim woman with power—and this is too much to handle for people who refuse to live in a society that celebrates diversity and abhors white supremacy. The question that we as leaders are called to answer is whether we will tolerate this kind of vile behavior and learn from history in order to protect our future,” Bowman wrote in a statement obtained by The Hill.
“I’m urging House leadership to hold Lauren Boebert accountable by removing her from her committee assignments, advancing a resolution of condemnation, and taking all other appropriate measures to ensure our message that Islamophobia, anti-Blackness, and xenophobia will not stand is loud and clear."
Bowman's individual statement comes days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Whip James E. Clyburn and several Democratic leaders issued a joint statement expressing a similar sentiment.
“Racism and bigotry of any form, including Islamophobia, must always be called out, confronted and condemned in any place it is found. This is particularly true in the halls of Congress, which are the very heart of our democracy," the statement reads.
“Congresswoman Boebert’s repeated, ongoing and targeted Islamophobic comments and actions against another Member of Congress, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, are both deeply offensive and concerning. This language and behavior are far beneath the standard of integrity, dignity and decency with which the Constitution and our constituents require that we act in the House. We call upon Congresswoman Boebert to fully retract these comments and refrain from making similar ones going forward."
Boebert's troubles began last week when she was recorded making discriminatory remarks about Omar at a public event. In her words, Omar is a member of the "jihad squad" who is not "tough in person."
"So the other night on the House floor was not my first jihad squad moment..I was getting into an elevator with one of my staffers and he and I were leaving the Capitol, we're going back to my office and we get in the elevator and I see a Capitol Police officer running hurriedly to the elevator. I see fret all over his face. And he's reaching. The door is shutting. I can't open it," she told a group of her supporters.
"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...So we only had one floor to go and I say, do I say it or do I not? And I look over and I say, '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."
After her comments made their way through Facebook and into the national news cycle, Boebert and Omar got on a phone call in an attempt to clear things up. However, 9 News reports that Omar ended the "unproductive" call when it appeared that Boebert would not apologize for her "anti-American, anti-Semitic" remarks.
“I believe in engaging with those we disagree with respectfully, but not when that disagreement is rooted in outright bigotry and hate," Omar said, according to 9 News.
“To date, the Republican Party leadership has done nothing to condemn and hold their own members accountable for repeated instances of anti-Muslim hate and harassment. This is not about one hateful statement or one politician; it is about a party that has mainstreamed bigotry and hatred."
Hours after the phone call with Boebert, Omar reportedly received another call from an unidentified individual. In a voicemail, a person with a deeper voice than Boebert calls Omar a number of racial slurs and threatens her safety.
"We see you sand n----- b----. We know what you are up to. You are all about taking over our country. Don't worry there is plenty that would love the opportunity to take you off the face of this f------ earth," the unidentified caller said.
"Come get it. But you are a f------ Muslim piece of s---. You are jihadists. We know what you are, you're a f------ traitor, and you will not live any longer."
Boebert has decided not to apologize for her remarks about Omar. Instead, she has doubled down on her comments.
"She didn’t want to hear what I had to say," Boebert told Fox News.
"Omar and the left don’t want an apology. They want public humiliation. They want to cancel me but that’s not going to happen. I will not be canceled."
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