Rep. Ilhan Omar is firing back at House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy for threatening to remove her from an assignment on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Last week Republicans won control of the U.S. House of Representatives after snagging their 218th seat in the chamber, and McCarthy is poised to become Speaker of the House when the new legislative session begins this coming January.
In a speech before a Republican Jewish Coalition gathering over the weekend, McCarthy reiterated his intention to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee for previous remarks criticizing Israel, though he can only oust Omar by getting a majority of the entire House to vote in favor of the idea.
Last year, I promised that when I became Speaker, I would remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee based on her repeated anti-semitic and anti-American remarks.
I'm keeping that promise. pic.twitter.com/04blBx3neD
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) November 19, 2022
Omar responded in part by accusing McCarthy of failing to “address the open hostility towards religious minorities in his party” and Republicans in general of “openly [tolerating] antisemitism, anti-Muslim hate and racism in their own party.”
“McCarthy’s effort to repeatedly single me out for scorn and hatred … does nothing to address the issues our constituents deal with,” she wrote in a Monday afternoon statement. “It does nothing to address inflation, healthcare, or solve the climate crisis.”
“What it does is gin up fear and hate against Somali-Americans and anyone who shares my identity, and further divide us along racial and ethnic lines. It is a continuation of a sustained campaign against Muslim and African voices, people his party have been trying to ban since Donald Trump first ran for office,” she added.
Full statement on Kevin McCarthy threat: pic.twitter.com/IAOP27ujlt
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) November 21, 2022
Last year Omar faced backlash from Republicans and even some Democrats after tweeting that the United States and Israel committed “unthinkable atrocities” just like Hamas and the Taliban.
She later said she was not making a “moral comparison between Hamas and the Taliban and the U.S. and Israel” but only referring to specific “[International Criminal Court] cases.”
Omar is not the only high-profile Democrat recently targeted by McCarthy. The House GOP leader has also vowed to remove Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, both white men, from their roles on the intelligence committee.
Evan Stambaugh
Evan Stambaugh is a freelance writer who had previously been a sports blogger. He has a BA in theology and an MA in philosophy.
