Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert said in a video on Monday that she called Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar to apologize for implying that the Muslim congresswoman could be a suicide bomber.
But the call didn’t go as planned and ultimately Omar, who represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, which includes Minneapolis, hung up.
I called and spoke with Ilhan Omar today. I thought you would like to hear details about the call directly from me.
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert)
“Instead of apologizing for her Islamophobic comments and fabricated lies, Rep. Boebert refused to publicly acknowledge her hurtful and dangerous comments,” Omar said in a statement. “She instead doubled down on her rhetoric and I decided to end the unproductive call.”
Rep. Omar’s statement on her conversation with Rep. Lauren Boebert.
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan)
The conflagration began last week after a of Boebert telling a small group a story about running into Omar on an elevator.
“And I said, ‘Well, she doesn’t have a backpack, we should be fine,’” Boebert said, later calling Omar a member of the “jihad squad.”
In her statement, Omar said the elevator tale was false.
Boebert tweeted an apology for the remarks on Friday to “anyone in the Muslim community I offended,” and followed up with a video outlining her call with Omar on Monday.
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.
— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert)
“I wanted to let (Omar) know directly that I had reflected on my previous remarks,” Boebert said. “As a strong Christian woman who values faith deeply, I never want anything I say to offend someone’s religion, so I told her that.”
“She said that she still wanted a public apology because what I had done wasn’t good enough,” Boebert continued. She kept asking for a public apology, so I told Ilhan Omar that she should make a public apology to the American people for her anti-American, anti-Semetic and anti-police rhetoric.”
Omar then hung up, Boebert said, adding that “Rejecting an apology and hanging up on someone is part of cancel culture 101.”
“I will continue to fearlessly put America first, never sympathizing with terrorists,” Boebert added. “Unfortunately Ilhan can’t say the same thing and our country is worse off for it.”
Omar, however, noted that Republican leaders remained silent on Boebertap actions and have not condemned her repeated anti-Muslim comments.
“I believe in engaging with those we disagree with respectfully. But not when that disagreement is rooted in outright bigotry and hate,” Omar said.
Boebert’s refusal to apologize during the “belligerent” call and doubling down by accusing Omar of sympathizing with terrorists should earn the West Slope congresswoman a censure from her colleagues, according to Robert McCaw, director of government affairs for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
McCaw called Boebert’s latest remarks “a disgusting new low” and called for Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to condemn them and demand a public apology from her. McCarthy but did not denounce what Boebert said.
If Boebert still refuses to apologize, McCaw said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer should move to censure her.
“Failing to do so would signal that Islamophobia is an acceptable form of bigotry in the halls of Congress,” McCaw said.
