Ilhan Omar blasts Republican congresswoman over 'anti-Muslim bigotry'

US Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, has blasted the Republican Representative from Colorado, Lauren Boebert, over her “anti-Muslim” remarks made in a viral video.

“Anti-Muslim bigotry isn’t funny & shouldn’t be normalized. Congress can’t be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation,” the Minnesota Representative wrote on Twitter Thursday evening.

Fact, this buffoon looks down when she sees me at the Capitol, this whole story is made up. Sad she thinks bigotry gets her clout.

Anti-Muslim bigotry isn’t funny & shouldn’t be normalized. Congress can’t be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation. https://t.co/S1APT7RbqW

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 26, 2021

Her tweet came in response to a story that Boebert, a far-right politician with a knack for stirring controversies, told people in her home district during the Thanksgiving weekend.

In the viral video, shared by a Twitter account called PatriotTakes, Boebert recounted her encounter with Omar at the US Capitol.

“So the other night on the House floor was not my first jihad squad moment. So I was getting into an elevator with one of my staffers. And he and I are - we’re leaving the Capitol. We're going back to my office and we get in the elevator, and I see a Capitol Police officer running hurriedly to the elevator,” Boebert said in the video.

“I see fret all over his face, and he's reaching… The door’s shutting, like I can’t - I can’t open it - like, what's happening? I look to my left, and there she is. Ilhan Omar. I said, ‘Well she doesn't have a backpack, we should be fine,’” she added, with audience heard laughing over it.

The Minnesota Representative dismissed the story as fiction, calling her a “buffoon”.

“Fact, this buffoon looks down when she sees me at the Capitol, this whole story is made up. Sad she thinks bigotry gets her clout,” Omar said on Twitter.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper called Bobert’s remarks “pure anti-Muslim bigotry.”

“This is pure anti-Muslim bigotry and as such is completely contrary to what the USA is supposed to stand for. That this is tolerated in American politics and the House GOP is an indictment against anyone who is silent about it,” Tapper tweeted on Thursday.

This is pure anti-Muslim bigotry and as such is completely contrary to what the USA is supposed to stand for. That this is tolerated in American politics and the House GOP is an indictment against anyone who is silent about it. https://t.co/b5dNprwG2n

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 26, 2021

Cori Bush, a Congresswoman from Missouri and a Black Lives Matter activist, said the Capitol Hill was a “toxic work environment for Muslim members and staff when bigots routinely spew racist, Islamophobic vitriol unchecked and with no consequence.”

Capitol Hill is a toxic work environment for Muslim members and staff when bigots routinely spew racist, Islamophobic vitriol unchecked and with no consequence.

Congresswoman @IlhanMN, we love you, and we pray for your well-being and protection from this despicable abuse. https://t.co/tqNsODgoPQ

— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) November 25, 2021

Prominent MSNBC journalist and prime time show host, Mehdi Hassan, called her remarks "disgusting".

"This is disgusting. How is this ok? How is this not worthy of censure? Of being stripped of committee assignments? I don’t expect anything from the GOP anymore but, hey, Dems? Anyone going to do anything about this racism and anti-Muslim bigotry? Do Muslim Americans not matter?" he tweeted.

"Like so many Muslim Americans, I am tired of the relentless demonization and bigotry. The ‘jokes’ about us being terrorists and ‘backpacks.’ The collective blaming and bullying. Most of all I’m tired of liberals who claim to care about racism turning a blind eye to Islamophobia," he added.

This is disgusting. How is this ok? How is this not worthy of censure? Of being stripped of committee assignments? I don’t expect anything from the GOP anymore but, hey, Dems? Anyone going to do anything about this racism and anti-Muslim bigotry? Do Muslim Americans not matter? https://t.co/5l0RvIrOgj

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) November 25, 2021

It is not the first time Boeber has made controversial remarks about Omar. Earlier this month, during her speech on the House floor, she referred to the Muslim politician as “Jihad Squad member from Minnesota”.

"The Jihad Squad member from Minnesota has paid her husband, and not her brother husband, the other one, over a million dollars in campaign funds," Boebert said. "This member is allowed on the Foreign Affairs Committee while praising terrorists."

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