New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called out Republicans for "targeting women of color" after they voted to remove Minnesota Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over her perceived antisemitic comments about the foreign policy relationship between the United States and Israel.
Omar's removal from the committee settled a score that garnered heavy criticism from the GOP in 2021, when the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives stripped Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona of their committee assignments for social media posts endorsing violence against Democrats.
In Greene's case racism, antisemitism and baseless conspiracy theories in her social media posts were also cited.
Republicans have since restored Gosar and Greene's committee seats and Ocasio-Cortez noted they had "rewarded" Gosar in particular "with one of the most prestigious committee assignments in this Congress" even though he'd previously been censured for sharing an altered, animated video that depicted him killing her and threatening Democratic President Joe Biden.
You can hear what she said in the video below.
\u201c.@RepAOC @AOC defends Rep. @Ilhan Omar: "Don't tell me this is about consistency. Don't tell me that this is about a condemnation of anti-Semitic remarks...This is about targeting women of color in the United States of America."\u201d— CSPAN (@CSPAN) 1675356724
Ocasio-Cortez accused Republicans of being motivated by racial animus:
“One of the disgusting legacies after 9/11 has been the targeting and racism against Muslim Americans throughout the United States of America, and this is an extension of that legacy."
“Consistency? There is nothing consistent with the Republican Party’s continued attack [on Omar] except for the racism and incitement of violence against women of color in this body.” ...
“I had a member of the Republican caucus threaten my life, and you all and the Republican caucus rewarded him with one of the most prestigious committee assignments in this Congress." ...
“This is about targeting women of color in the United States of America. Don’t tell me, because I didn’t get a single apology when my life was threatened.”
Many agreed with Ocasio-Cortez's assessment and condemned the GOP's actions.
\u201cRepublicans give Paul Gosar committee assignments after making videos of himself stabbing AOC & reward George Santos with committees after scamming a disabled vet & fabricating his entire life.\n\nThen, they removed Ilhan Omar from committees just for being Muslim. We see you, GOP.\u201d— Kyla in the Burgh \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f\ud83d\udd25 (@Kyla in the Burgh \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f\ud83d\udd25) 1675367029
\u201cListen to every word. What the Republicans are doing to Rep @Ilhan is a disgrace. And Rep. @AOC LAYS IT OUT.\u201d— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sherrilyn Ifill) 1675382659
\u201cWatching white Republicans on House floor laughing it up as they vote to strip Rep Ilhan Omar of her house committee. This is a modern day lynching. This is what white supremacy looks like. Period.\u201d— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@(((DeanObeidallah)))) 1675358087
\u201cI posted this in 2019, and I\u2019m posting it again. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is targeted not for being a woman of color but because she\u2019s a Muslim BLACK woman. \n\nIslamophobia and racism are rampant in Congress. The only ones defending her are liberal women of color. #IStandWithIlhan\u201d— Ola Ojewumi (@Ola Ojewumi) 1675374318
\u201cThe Republican party is once again weaponizing xenophobia and racism to target my dear friend @IlhanMN.\n\nI stand with Ilhan \u2013 and I know NOTHING will stop her from getting big things done.\nhttps://t.co/C8K9Q8PcyH\u201d— Pramila Jayapal (@Pramila Jayapal) 1675377557
\u201cDon't buy the anti-Semitism excuse. Rep Omar's removal from Foreign Affairs is the culmination of years of targeting Omar by Donald Trump, the rightwing media, and Republican lawmakers who attacked her religion, ethnicity, and history as a refugee. https://t.co/zUe9kMbHcF\u201d— Pema Levy (@Pema Levy) 1675364573
\u201cThe real reason House Republicans kicked Ilhan Omar off the foreign affairs committee? \n\nRacism and Islamophobia. \nhttps://t.co/aEafVLSMgd\u201d— Mother Jones (@Mother Jones) 1675389660
Accusations of antisemitism have dogged Omar since she came under fire after criticizing the amount of political donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
While the PAC is certainly influential, many felt that accusing it of using money to control Washington fed into the antisemitic conspiracy theory that a network of Jewish people use their money to sway the world in their favor.
Omar later apologized.
\u201cListening and learning, but standing strong \ud83d\udcaa\ud83c\udffd\u201d— Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan Omar) 1549914419
The apology has done little to quell criticism from conservatives, particularly from former Republican President Donald Trump, who at one point shared a video that claims to show Omar being dismissive of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.
Trump also falsely claimed Omar talked "about how great Al Qaeda is" during a 2013 interview on a local PBS television show.
Omar said she received more death threats as a result of Trump's action, noting that "violent rhetoric and hate speech have no place in our society, much less from our country’s Commander in Chief."
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