Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said she is confident House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will hold a vote this week to strip Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., of her committee assignments after she made a joke about Omar’s religion.
“We should punish and sanction Boebert by stripping her of her committees, by rebuking her language,” Omar told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “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.”
She added that Pelosi promised her that she would take care of the situation between Omar and Boebert.
Though Pelosi has not announced any formal action against Boebert, she reportedly told Democratic lawmakers in a closed-door meeting last Wednesday that Boebert’s comments were “indecent” and “dangerous.”
“These people do not respect the House that they serve in,” she allegedly said.
Boebert came under fire after making a joke about Omar during a campaign event on Nov. 25. She suggested Omar could have been considered a security risk: “Well, she doesn’t have a backpack,” Boebert quipped. “We should be fine.”
Boebert later apologized to Omar publicly, but said that a private phonecall with Omar did not go well. Omar allegedly demanded that Boebert make a public apology, while Boebert insisted Omar also make a public apology for “her anti-American, antisemitic, anti-police rhetoric.” Omar eventually hung up on her, Boebert said.
“I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep. Omar,” she said. “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.”
Boebert also challenged Omar to speak to her directly instead of hiding behind Pelosi and the rest of Democratic leadership.
“Instead of running off to Speaker Pelosi, Ilhan Omar should accept the Fox News offer to meet me on the air and debate our differences,” she said.
