Nancy Pelosi: Boebert's Islamophobic comments against Ilhan Omar 'dangerous'

Nancy Pelosi: Boebert's Islamophobic comments against Ilhan Omar 'dangerous'
Republican Lauren Boebert implied Ilhan Omar had been taken for a terrorist by a policeman in a Capitol Hill incident Omar said didn't happen.
2 min read
02 December, 2021
Nancy Pelosi is the US House of Representatives' speaker [Getty-file photo]

US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed Islamophobic comments made against Congresswoman Ilhan Omar as "dangerous" on Wednesday.

Pelosi's remarks, aimed at Republican lawmaker Lauren Boebert, came during a private meeting of House Democrats, ABC News cited an informed source as having said.

Boebert referred to Omar as being part of a "Jihad Squad" in an apparent attack on the "Squad" of six progressive lawmakers Omar belongs to. Video of Boebert's remarks was captured and shared to Twitter a week ago.

In the same video, Boebert also implied that the Minnesota politician had been taken for a terrorist by a policeman in a Capitol Hill incident Omar said did not occur.

"To see a member of Congress attacking another member is not a good thing. Right? Under any circumstance," Pelosi said.

"Whether it's ethnic, generational, gender, or gender ID, whatever. But to see the supposed people of faith denouncing other people's faith… it's indecent. It's indecent."

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It wasn't immediately clear if Pelosi was referencing Boebert's most recent comments against Omar or previous ones, such as when she called Omar an "honorary member of Hamas".

Pelosi asserted "these people are doing it for the publicity".

She added: "There's a judgement that has to be made about how we contribute to their fundraising and their publicity on how obnoxious and disgusting they can be."

On Friday, Boebert tweeted she was sorry "to anyone in the Muslim community I offended", saying she had asked Omar's office for an opportunity to talk to her.

The two lawmakers spoke on the phone, but both congresswomen said Omar ended the call. Boebert said this followed her saying she wouldn't give a "public apology", while Omar said Boebert "refused to publicly acknowledge her hurtful and dangerous comments".

High-level figures within the Democratic Party are discussing how to deal with Boebert's remarks.

Speaker Pelosi said on Wednesday that representatives have "different views" on what to do, according to ABC, seemingly during the private meeting with Democratic colleagues.

One staffer told the news outlet that senior House Democrats raised potentially having a resolution against Islamophobia, though nothing was in a discussion late on Tuesday.

Among the moves available are removing Boebert's committee roles and censuring the Colorado representative.

Boebert was sworn in as a congresswoman at the start of this year.