Ilhan Omar, the Democratic Minnesota Representative who is one of three Muslims currently in Congress, has called Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert a “buffoon” and “bigoted” after Boebert told a story about Omar being mistaken as a terrorist in Congress.
In a recently released video, the gun-loving, Trump-supporting representative said that when she entered a congressional elevator with Omar, a Capitol police officer came running up just as its doors were closing.
Related: Lauren Boebert challenges Congressman who uses a wheelchair to a footrace
“What’s happening? I look to my left, and there she is: Ilhan Omar,” Boebert said in the video. “And I said, well, she doesn’t have a backpack. We should be fine. So we only had one floor to go. I said, ‘Oh look, the jihad squad decided to show up for work today.’”
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The audience in Boebert’s video laughs and applauds. But her Islamophobic “joke” equates Muslims with terrorism. Such “jokes” encourage ignorant people to see Muslims as deadly threats to innocent people, justifying anti-Islamic attacks and murders.
THREAD: Also, at that Thanksgiving break campaign event, Lauren Boebert made seditious statements and pushed the big lie.
Lauren Boebert called Mar-a-Lago “the new White House” and affirmed an audience member who called it “the real White House.” pic.twitter.com/OW4Z9Ogry3
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) November 26, 2021
In response to Boebert’s dumb story, Omar replied, “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,” Omar added. “Congress can’t be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation.”
On Friday, Omar said, “saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter…. Normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims. Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress.” She asked Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to “take appropriate action,” but McCarthy isn’t likely to do anything.
On Friday via Twitter, Boebert wrote, “I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep Omar.” She said her office had reached out to Omar’s office.
But this isn’t the first time Boebert has targeted Omar. Earlier this month, she claimed that Omar married her brother during a vulgar tirade about Democrats that she delivered on the House floor.
In response, Colorado’s 9NEWS anchor Kyle Clark ripped into “the cruel, false, and bigoted things [Boebert] says for attention and fundraising,” adding, “We hold Congresswoman Boebert to a far lower standard” than other legislators from either parties. We’ve been conditioned to expect the worst from her, he pointed out.
“If we held her to the same standard as every other elected Republican and Democrat in Colorado, we would be here near-nightly chronicling the cruel, false and bigoted things that Boebert says for attention and fundraising,” he continued.
