GOP gov. reacts to Islamophobic comments by Republican congresswoman, calling for ‘civil discourse’

An American GOP governor has reacted to Islamophobic comments by a congresswoman from his party, calling for a “civil discourse.”

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson made the remarks in an interview with CNN in reaction to a video that surfaced over the Thanksgiving.

In the video, House Rep. Lauren Boebert from Colorado is seen targeting Muslim Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.

"I was getting into an elevator with one of my staffers and he and I were 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. I see fret all over his face. And he's reaching. The door is shutting. I can't open it. 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,’” Boebert is seen telling the audience in the manner of a stand-up comedian.

In response, Hutchinson called on the Republican leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy of California, to take action against such divisive comments.

“I do. I think whenever, even in our own caucus, our own members, if they go the wrong direction, I mean, it has to be called out. It has to be dealt with, particularly whenever it is breaching the civility, whenever it is crossing the line in terms of violence or increasing the divide in our country,” said the Arkansas governor. “So, one of the things that's really important to us in the future is increasing the civil debate and civil discourse. And we have got to look for ways that we can bring people together, and not divide, and certainly along racial lines.”

McCarthy later reacted to the comments by releasing a statement to CNN, in which he announced that he had talked to the Democratic leader in the House, Steny Hoyer, “to help facilitate that meeting so that Congress can get back to talking to each other and working on the challenges facing the American people.”

This is not the first time that Omar is facing anti-Muslim slur by other politicians in the United States, the most notorious of whom has been former President Donald Trump who kept attacking her along with others during his tenure.

The Somali-born Democrat has denied that such an incident ever happened between her and Boebert.

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