Islamophobia is trending on Twitter, which can only mean The GoldiGlocks—Reps. Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene—have doubled down on their disturbing, hateful obsession with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and the Squad, which has now resulted in death threats.
Even though their latest publicity and fundraising spectacle is another sad reflection of their party’s dangerous descent into extremism, it nonetheless presents the Democrats with a prime political opportunity to expose the Hate Squad as the modern face and beating heart of the GOP.
These clowns keep using the Squad to get themselves in the headlines; it’s time that Democrats make Boebert, MTG, Matt Gaetz, Madison Cawthorn and Paul Gosar into their own brand—and force the rest of the Republican Party to account for these attention-seeking, racist morons.
Boebert had already backed out of her non-apology to Omar for smearing her as a supposed terrorist sympathizer and a member of the Jihad Squad when a video from a September fundraiser revealed that Boebert is a one-trick pony—repeating the same hateful and fabricated stock story about supposedly riding in a Capitol Hill elevator with Omar and being relieved she wasn’t wearing a backpack.
The audience, which included Rep. Lee Zeldin, hooted, hollered, and applauded, having a great time with her anti-Muslim schtick. Boebert also attacked Rep. Rashida Tlaib, describing the first two Muslim women in Congress as “black-hearted evil women.”
It’s always projection and hypocrisy with these Republicans. As Omar said, it’s “sad that she thinks bigotry gets her clout”—and that it does at least within the GOP.
Naturally, Marjorie Taylor Greene urged Boebert, her unhinged comrade in Crossfit arms, to stand her ground and not apologize for being the “trash” that she is. That’s how outgoing Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger rightfully described Boebert, but the GOP is more comfortable kicking him out of the party than her.
His crime? He refuses to be a cult loyalist and won’t spread the Big Lie or support a violent insurrection. There are no such ethical standards and moral pangs of consciousness with Boebert and Greene, who support the Jan. 6 rioters along with the far-right, anti-government Oath Keepers and Three Percenters who had a healthy presence at the insurrection that left five people dead.
But Minority “Leader” Kevin McCarthy has yet to condemn Boebert, who remains a Republican in good standing like Rep. Paul Gosar, who pals around with white supremacists, allegedly helped plan the insurrection and tweets cartoons showing him killing Squad member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Democrats thankfully stepped up, and like Greene before him, Gosar was stripped of his committee assignments—though it’s a sure thing those will be restored if Republicans retake the House next year. Gosar stood his ground and refused to apologize, following in the footsteps of Greene, who was given a standing ovation by most of her Republican colleagues even as she continued encouraging violence against Democratic officials and making unfounded, antisemitic conspiracy theories about powerful Jews controlling space lasers.
That solidarity in hate didn’t stop Greene—who went on Steve Bannon’s podcast to smear Omar as supposedly “pro-Al Qaeda,” an “apologist for Islamic terrorists” and “anti-American”—from attacking fellow Republican Rep. Nancy Mace as “the trash in the GOP Conference,” simply because she rightfully condemned Boebert’s racist, inflammatory comments. (“All I can say… is bless her fucking heart,” Mace told reporters Tuesday evening.)
These clowns’ obsession with the Squad runs deep. Greene, after all, chased down and shouted at AOC outside the House chamber. It seems the entire GOP in fact is a bit infatuated with these four Congresswomen of color, who have recently added Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush to the Squad.
They make for convenient bogeymen for the base: outspoken, progressive people of color who identify as Democratic socialists and call out racism, police brutality, and income inequality. They also use terrifying slogans, such as “Defund the Police.”
The Squad has been cynically and strategically weaponized by the right-wing ecosystem to paint all Democrats and liberals, including moderate President Joe Biden, as far-left, anti-American radicals who will transform your children into vegan, transgender, socialist, Marxist atheists. The GOP even spent millions of dollars trying to paint Nancy Pelosi, a wealthy, establishment Democrat, as a socialist.
Even moderate Democrats like Rep. Abigail Spanberger and James Carville have piled on, unfairly blaming the Squad for fellow moderate Democrat Terry McCauliffe’s recent loss in Virginia.
It’s all bad faith bullshit—but it works.
So why not flip the script?
Unlike the Squad, modern Republicans really are actually violent, dangerous extremists who support insurrectionists and terror. They love the Big Lie, promote antisemitic conspiracy theories, give cover to dangerous hate groups, endorse a violent insurrection, and have a history of disobeying law and order.
Boebert, for example, has been arrested more times than any other sitting Congressperson, and she’s ignored court orders. As far as family values are concerned, Boebert’s husband was arrested for exposing himself to minors, and Matt Gaetz, Greene’s dynamic partner in buffoonery, is currently being investigated for having sex with a minor and traveling with her across state lines.
If Republicans want to expose the Deep State and its alleged cabal of sex traffickers, maybe they should begin by looking in their own house.
There’s also Madison Cawthorn, Bob Roberts without an IQ, who beats up trees when he’s not being accused of sexually assaulting multiple women. In addition to promoting talking points from QAnon, which is a domestic terror threat according to the FBI, Cawthorn recently told his followers to “be armed and dangerous” after the Rittenhouse acquittal.
Can you imagine Omar and Ocasio-Cortez ever even saying something like that? Nope. Yet they are demonized on a weekly basis, and Cawthorn’s comment didn’t even receive a front-page mention.
Democrats should immediately make these Republicans the modern face of the GOP movement. Call them The Fascist Five, The Dumb-Dumb Club, Y’All Qaeda, The Insurrectionists, The Traitor Tots, Karen and the Gang, or The Deplorables. Pick a name. Stick with it.
Unlike the Squad, who have clashed with their party’s leadership, these GOP members are condoned and even celebrated by Republican leadership. Every time they do something stupid and terrible to gin up press, Democrats need to make these clowns the face of the Republican Party. Ask Americans if they really want these hateful idiots running the country, and if they want their children to grow up influenced by their poisonous ideologies.
Let’s help give them the clout they’re after, and watch them end up like the dog that caught the car.
Boebert and her crew are desperate to be as famous as the Squad, right? Well, it’s time to oblige them.
