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Ilhan Omar

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) addresses thousands of demonstrators from across the country as they rally in support of a pathway to citizenship for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on September 21, 2021. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

GOP 'Silence Speaks Volumes,' Says Ilhan Omar as Boebert's Bigotry Goes Unpunished

"Normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims. Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress."

Brett Wilkins

Rep. Ilhan Omar on Saturday condemned her GOP colleagues' inaction following the recent publication by Rep. Lauren Boebert of an anti-Muslim video in which the Colorado Republican lies about the Somali-American lawmaker being mistaken for a suspected suicide bomber inside the U.S. Capitol.

"These anti-Muslim attacks aren't about my ideas but about my identity and it's clear," Omar (D-Minn.) tweeted.

Addressing House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), she added that "your silence speaks volumes."

Boebert issued what critics called a "sorry not sorry" apology via Twitter on Friday after calling Omar (D-Minn.) a member of "the jihad squad" and falsely claiming that a Capitol police officer came urgently running into an elevator the two congresswomen shared.

"What's happening?" Boebert said in the video, which was recorded at an event in Pueblo last Saturday. "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.'"

Boebert's story—which Omar says never happened—drew applause and cheers from the audience. Pueblo County Republican chair Leverington subsequently defended Boebert, saying she "probably expressed the sentiment of many Americans."

"Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter."

Boebert also referred to progressive Democratic lawmakers as the "jihad squad" last week while defending Rep. Paul Gosar, who on November 17 was censured by the House of Representatives and stripped of his committee appointments after his office produced and published an edited animé video depicting the Arizona Republican murdering Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and attacking President Joe Biden with swords.

While Democrats and at least one Republican—Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois—have condemned Boebert's attack on Omar, GOP leadership has been silent on the matter.

"Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter," Omar tweeted on Friday, adding that McCarthy and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) "need to take appropriate action."

"Normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims," she warned. "Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress."

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