The Republican Party’s Islamophobia problem took a contentious turn after Rep. Lauren Boebert, who publicly made xenophobic comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar, called her House colleague on Monday, reports Politico. Boebert, a freshman Republican, was seen in a viral video making Islamaphobic comments, calling Omar a member of the “jihad squad,” and saying Omar shouldn’t wear a backpack to ride in the Capitol elevator. After widespread outrage, Boebert tweeted an apology to the “Muslim community” for her offensive comments but did not name Omar directly. Omar and Boebert both said the Monday phone call did not go well. “Instead of apologizing for her Islamaphobic comments and fabricated lies, Rep. Boebert refused to acknowledge her hurtful and dangerous comments publicly,” Omar said in a statement. “She instead doubled down on her rhetoric, and I decided to end the unproductive call.”
Boebert told her side of the story in an Instagram video, claiming she said to Omar that she doesn’t want anyone to take offense from her comments on religion. “Even after I put out a public statement to that effect, she said she still wanted a public apology because what I had done wasn’t good enough.” Boebert insisted Omar “make an apology to the American people” for her “anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-police rhetoric.” In response, Omar hung up and called on Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to take action and hold his party accountable for the hateful rhetoric.
Read it at Politico
