Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) charged that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has looked the other way as his “Ku Klux Klan caucus” bombards fellow squad member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) with violent threats.
In a tweet on Wednesday, the openly socialist congresswoman blamed Kevin McCarthy for a hateful voicemail that Ilhan Omar reportedly received after she traded barbs with Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), saying he has willfully allowed violent threats against women of color in order to become speaker of the house.
“People truly don’t understand the scale, intensity, & volume of threats targeting [Omar],” AOC wrote. “Kevin McCarthy is so desperate to be speaker that he is working with his Ku Klux Klan caucus to look aside & allow violent targeting of woc [women of color] members of Congress. This cannot be ignored.”
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (DMN), left, joined at right by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), responds to remarks by President Donald Trump during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
In another tweet, AOC said the GOP has “tolerated and ignored” Islamophobia long enough for the bigotry to become acceptable, arguing that Republicans should be the ones paying for the cost of security.
“While people toss out clichés like ‘we condemn all forms of racism & bigotry,’ the fact is Islamophobia is far too often tolerated and ignored. Bigotry is not made unacceptable by what one says about it, it’s made acceptable based on whether there are consequences for it or not,” the congresswoman continued.
“It’s not just about nasty phone calls and e-mails,” she added. “GOP are given freedom to incite without consequence. They don’t have to pay for the security required from their acts- we do. They make money off it. &They are targeting those least likely to be institutionally protected first.”
People truly don’t understand the scale, intensity, & volume of threats targeting @IlhanMN.
Kevin McCarthy is so desperate to be speaker that he is working with his Ku Klux Klan caucus to look aside & allow violent targeting of woc members of Congress.
This cannot be ignored. https://t.co/ppridf6bZl
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 1, 2021
It’s not just about nasty phone calls and e-mails.
GOP are given freedom to incite without consequence. They don’t have to pay for the security required from their acts- we do. They make money off it.
&They are targeting those least likely to be institutionally protected first.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 1, 2021
Though AOC and the “squad” would cite January 6 as an example, to date, no act of violence has been inflicted upon Ilhan Omar, unlike the gunshots that nearly killed House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) by a Bernie Sanders supporter in 2017.
In this image from House Television, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of CA, speaks on the House floor during debate on the Democrats’ expansive social and environment bill at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, in Washington. (House Television via AP)
A public feud erupted between Lauren Boebert and Ilhan Omar when the Republican congresswoman was filmed calling Ilhan Omar a member of “the jihad squad.” Boebert later apologized for her remarks and attempted to smooth things over with Omar during a phone call that immediately turned sour when Boebert asked Omar to publicly apologize for her antisemitic statements.
“She kept asking for a public apology, so I told Ilhan Omar that she should make a public apology to the American people for her anti-American, antisemitic anti-police rhetoric,” Boebert said of the phone call. “She continued to press, and I continued to press back, and then Representative Omar hung up on me.”
“Rejecting an apology and hanging up on someone is part of cancel culture 101, and a pillar of the Democrat Party,” she added.
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