Rep. Ilhan Omar 'Very Confident' Pelosi Will Take Action Against Lauren Boebert After Anti-Muslim Remarks
MINNEAPOLIS (CNN/WCCO) -- Rep. Ilhan Omar said Sunday she is "very confident" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will take "decisive action" against Rep. Lauren Boebert over the Colorado Republican's anti-Muslim remarks.
"I've had a conversation with the Speaker and I'm very confident that she will take decisive action next week," the Minnesota congresswoman told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union." "As you know, when I first got to Congress, I was worried that, you know, I wasn't going to be allowed to be sworn in because there was a ban on the hijab. She promised me that she'd take care of it. She fulfilled that promise. She made another promise to me that she will take care of this, and I believe her."
She said Boebert should be punished for her racist anti-Muslim rhetoric directed at Omar.
"I think it's important for us to say this kind of language, this kind of hate cannot be condoned by the House of Representatives, and we should punish and sanction Boebert by stripping her of her committees, by rebuking her language by doing everything that we can to send a clear and decisive message to the American public that if the Republicans are not going to be adults, and condemn this, that we are going to do that."
Omar also called Boebert's comments "shocking and unacceptable."
"It's very unbecoming of a congresswoman to use that kind of derogatory dangerous inciting language against a colleague," she said.
Boebert's comments came to light over the Thanksgiving holiday break when a video surfaced of the Colorado congresswoman talking to supporters. In the video, Boebert said that she and Omar were once in a Capitol elevator and a security guard was running toward them. Boebert said she looked at Omar and said, "Well, she doesn't have a backpack. We should be fine."
The line, in which Boebert compared Omar to a suicide bomber, drew laughs from her audience. Omar said that the episode never happened, adding that this is the second time that Boebert has made up an elevator story about Omar. This most recent episode, like other times Omar has been attack, led to her receiving a number of death threats. She played one at a recent news conference; the caller left a voicemail saying that she "will not be living much longer."
Soon after the elevator story video surfaced, Boebert apologized to Muslims who might be have been offended. Boebert spoke with Omar over the phone but refused to publicly apologize. In an Instagram video after the phone call, Boebert said that Omar should apologize to the American people for "her anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-police rhetoric."
On "State of the Union," Omar slammed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for not punishing Boebert, a member of his party.
"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," she said. "This is who they are. And we have to be able to stand up to them and we have to be able to push them to reckon with the fact that their party right now is normalizing anti-Muslim bigotry."
On Monday, Minnesota's House People of Color and Indigenous Caucus said that the violent rhetoric used against Omar cannot be tolerated and called for the entire Minnesota Congressional Delegation to condemn the attack on Omar.
"This racist rhetoric has become increasingly accepted among GOP politicians, leading to record hate crimes across our nation. Rep. Boebert's remarks are so far beyond the pale that it is shocking she has not been condemned by the entirety of her party's members," the group said, in a statement."
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