Rep. Ilhan Omar said on Sunday she’s confident House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will take “decisive action” soon against Rep. Lauren Boebert after the Colorado Republican made anti-Muslim remarks about Omar.
Boebert’s remarks came to light in a video on social media, and tensions increased after a phone call between Boebert and Omar last week. On CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, the Minnesota Democrat called Boebert’s comments "dangerous" and blasted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for failing to condemn the Islamophobic remarks.
“McCarthy is a liar and a coward,” Omar said, adding that “we have to push them to reckon with the fact that their party right now is normalizing anti-Muslim bigotry.”
Asked if she believes the speaker will move to strip Boebert of her committee assignments, Omar said she’s had a conversation with Pelosi and is “very confident” she will take action.
“As you know, when I first got to Congress, I was worried that I wasn’t going to be allowed to be sworn in because there was a ban on the hijab,” Omar told CNN host Jake Tapper. “She promised me she would take care of it. She fulfilled that promise. She’s made another promise to me she will take care of this, and I believe her.”
The ratcheting up of tensions in the House comes in the wake of the censure of Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), who came under fire for an anime video that portrayed him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
On Sunday, Omar called Boebert’s remarks part of a pattern, saying such language puts her colleagues and, more widely, Muslims in the U.S., at risk.