The GOP got it done.
The House voted on Thursday to kick controversial Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) off of the Foreign Affairs Committee for racist remarks; the resolution was approved in a 218-211.
“I am Muslim, I am an immigration, and interestingly, from Africa,” Omar said. “Is anyone surprised that I am being targeted? Is anyone surprised that I am somehow deemed unworthy to speak about American foreign policy, or that they see me as a powerful voice that needs to be silenced.”
“Why is this member being targeted today?” asked Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y. “Could it be the way that she looks? Could it be the way her religious practices? Because it’s clear if she were on the other side of the aisle, we would not be having this debate today.”
Republican members of Congress cited Omar’s past anti-American rhetoric.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) said “as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I’ve sat there and heard the representative actually spew anti-American rhetoric as well. I’ve been in that committee room where the representative equates Israel and the United States to Hamas and the Taliban. Absolutely unacceptable for a member of that committee.”
From Fox News:
The Republican justification for removing Omar from the committee was spelled out in the four-page resolution. It states that in 2019, Omar suggested that Jewish people were buying U.S. political support when she said, “It’s all about the Benjamins, baby,” which struck many – including many Democrats – as an anti-Semitic trope.
Omar also accused some Jewish Americans of having “allegiance to a foreign country,” which again prompted backlash among Republicans and Democrats who said it was offensive and anti-Semitic to suggest supporting Israel is the same as having a foreign allegiance.
A month later, Omar described the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. that killed nearly 3,000 people as, “some people did something.” Malliotakis said that line was especially egregious to lawmakers from New York, and is “unacceptable” for any member of the committee to say.
In 2021, Omar called Israel an “apartheid state,” and lumped the U.S. and Israel in with Hamas and the Taliban as political entities that have committed “unthinkable atrocities.”
Every Democrat opposed removing Omar from the committee. Fellow squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) broke down in tears addressing the House after the vote.
Rashida Tlaib literally breaks down in tears over Ilhan Omar being removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee. pic.twitter.com/Q81minIxvJ
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 2, 2023
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