You think your co-worker is bad? Be thankful it’s not Lauren Boebert. Over the past week, the far-right politician referred to Rep. Ilhan Omar as being a member of the “jihad squad,” made up a story about being in an elevator with the Minnesota Democrat (who replied, “Sad she thinks bigotry gets her clout”), and after surprisingly apologizing “to the Muslim community” about her comments, on Monday she “refused to publicly acknowledge” the hateful things she’s said during a tense phone call with Omar.
“Today, I graciously accepted a call from Rep. Lauren Boebert in the hope of receiving a direct apology for falsely claiming she met me in an elevator, suggesting I was a terrorist, and for a history of anti-Muslim hate. Instead of apologizing for her Islamophobic comments and fabricated lies, Rep. Boebert refused to publicly acknowledge her hurtful and dangerous comments,” Omar wrote in a statement. During the phone call, Boebert “doubled down on her rhetoric and I decided to end the unproductive call. I believe in engaging with those we disagree with respectfully, but not when that disagreement is rooted in outright bigotry and hate.” Omar also called on House minority leader / t-shirt entrepreneur Kevin McCarthy to “actually hold his party accountable.”
Meanwhile, Boebert shared her own feelings about the phone call.
“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-Semitic, anti-police rhetoric. She continued to press, and I continued to press back. And then, Rep. Omar hung up on me. Rejecting an apology and hanging up on someone is part of cancel culture 101 and a pillar of the Democrat Party.”
Boebert later doubled on Islamophobic rhetoric, saying that she would “continue to fearlessly put America first, never sympathizing with terrorists. Unfortunately, Ilhan can’t say the same thing. And our country is worse off for it.”
Imagine, just for a moment what someone hears when she says there are “politicians with suicide belts strapped their body.” here and tell me how we aren’t supposed to be concerned or outraged by this.
pic.twitter.com/bWVSkdihnG— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 29, 2021
(Via the Hill)