During a tense phone call on Monday, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said she would not publicly apologize to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) for anti-Muslim remarks she made about her last week.
Last week, a recording circulated on social media featuring Boebert calling Omar part of the "jihad squad" and saying she could safely ride an elevator in the Capitol as long as she didn't have a backpack. In a video posted to Instagram on Monday, Boebert said she "reflected on my previous remarks, now as a strong Christian woman who values faith deeply, I never want anything I say to offend someone's religion."
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Omar said in a statement that she hung up on Boebert after she "refused to publicly acknowledge her hurtful and dangerous comments. She instead doubled down on her rhetoric and I decided to end the unproductive call." Omar added that she believes in "engaging with those we disagree with respectfully, but not when the disagreement is rooted in outright bigotry and hate. To date, the Republican Party leadership has done nothing to condemn and hold their own members accountable for repeated instances of anti-Muslim hate and harassment." She called on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to take action.
Boebert described Omar as being part of "the jihad squad" during an event in September and has also falsely called her "an honorary member of Hamas" who is "a terrorist sympathizer," Politico reports. Earlier this month, her GOP colleague Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) was censured and stripped of his committees after sharing on social media an altered anime video depicting the killing of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
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