On Friday, an occurrence as rare as a peaceful family Thanksgiving dinner happened: Lauren Boebert apologized. (Sort of.) On Thursday, footage of her making an anti-Muslim joke, directed at fellow representative Ilhan Omar, surface on social media. It received widespread condemnation, including from Omar herself. But if Omar has accepted the mea culpa, she hasn’t done so publicly. In fact, the last thing she said on the matter was that Boebert, unlike most of her GOP chums who’ve demonized their progressive co-workers, should be punished.
In the video, Boebert told a story about how a Capitol police officer ran up to her when she saw her get onto an elevator that happened to also contain Omar. “Well, she doesn’t have a backpack. We should be fine,” Boebert cracked, to a mix of shock and awe (though more awe than shock). She also used the term “Jihad squad” at least twice.
The video gained traction over social media, and soon Omar herself was condemning the comments, and even calling BS on the story.
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.
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. https://t.co/S1APT7RbqW
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 26, 2021
“Fact, this buffoon looks down when she sees me at the Capitol, this whole story is made up,” Omar wrote. “Sad she thinks bigotry gets her clout. 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.”
The pushback was enough that the Colorado lawmaker wrote one of those apologies that doesn’t sound exactly like one. “I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep. Omar,” she wrote on Twitter. “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.”
But an hour later, Omar was still calling out Boebert’s bigotry.
Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter. @GOPLeader and @SpeakerPelosi 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. https://t.co/A0VxI3uTmH pic.twitter.com/QTmqaGaZrM
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 26, 2021
“Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter,” she wrote. “@GOPLeader and @SpeakerPelosi 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.”
Asking Nancy Pelosi to sort this mess out is one thing. But Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader, does not have a great track record reprimanding his out-of-control Trumpist underlings. Marjorie Taylor Greene has gotten away with far worse, while Paul Gosar, while censured by the House (largely along party lines, of course), not only didn’t apologize for sharing a video of him murdering Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but made a big show out of it. McCarthy, meanwhile, promised to restore both Greene and Gosar to the committees from which they were booted should the GOP regain control of that body of government in 2022, ensuring that no one in today’s Republican Party need ever learn a lesson on bipartisanship or basic common decency.
(Via The Daily Beast)
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