Share and Follow
Rep. Cori Bush accused Republicans of ‘white supremacy’ as she and other left-wing members of the Squad condemned their efforts to remove Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Omar was removed from the committee after losing a largely party line vote 218 to 211.
But her left wing colleagues offered a fiery defense of their comrade, who had been accused of making antisemitic comments.
‘This institution is better because of her leadership and the foreign affairs committee benefits from her perspective,’ she said.
‘So let’s talk about what’s really happening.
‘Republicans are waging a blatantly Islamophobic and racist attack on Congresswoman Omar and I’ve said it before I’ll say it again: The white supremacy happening is unbelievable.’
Cori Bush accused Republicans of ‘white supremacy’ as she and other left-wing members of the Squad condemned their efforts to remove Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee
Before the vote count was handed down, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned the GOP for what she said amounted to ‘racism and incitement of violence against women of color.’
‘Don’t tell me this is about consistency. Don’t tell me that this is about a condemnation of antisemitic remarks…This is about targeting women of color in the United States of America,’ the fellow Squad member said.
And Rashid Tlaib broke down as she said: ‘Congresswoman Omar, I am so sorry that our country is failing you today through the chamber.
‘You belong on this committee.’
She raised her voice in a howl as she was told her time was cut off.
‘You belong on this committee,’ she half sobbed, half screamed before her microphone was cut off.
Democrats screamed ‘no’ before the GOP completed Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s bid to get the Squad member removed over her history of comments comparing Israel to Hamas and the Taliban and saying the relationship between the Jewish state and the U.S. is ‘all about the Benjamins’ in 2019.
‘She described 9/11 by saying “some people did something”,’ McCarthy said when explaining why he wanted to boot her from the committee in a press conference after she was kicked off.
McCarthy insisted Omar’s removal was not ‘tit-for-tat’ – brushing off Democrat allegations it is ‘revenge’ for removing Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar from their assignments.
Before the vote, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned the GOP for what she said amounted to ‘racism and incitement of violence against women of color’
House Republicans on Thursday voted to kick Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee over her antisemitic comments in chaotic scenes in Congress.
‘She described 9/11 by saying “some people did something”,’ McCarthy said when explaining why he wanted to boot her from the committee in a press conference after she was kicked off
Omar told Republicans ‘I am an American’, and said losing her seat on the committee for a term would not make her go away.
In his press conference before the vote House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries admitted Omar has used ‘antisemitic tropes’ – but questioned why Omar was being booted.
He added there had been ‘no accountability’ for Republicans who had put out seemingly antisemitic tweets.
Read Related Also: Lisa Marie Presley on life support after cardiac arrest: report
Jeffries referenced a 2021 tweet Rep. Thomas Massie put out accusing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) of ‘foreign interference in our elections’ for putting out an ad targeting him.
But Massie does not sit on the Foreign Affairs Committee – McCarthy has said that Omar would be allowed to participate in other committees but represented a ‘national security concern’ on this one.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., suggested Republicans were being racist for targeting Omar, a Muslim Somali American.
‘Could it be the way she looks?’ he said on the House floor to Democratic applause.
While Republicans mentioned her previously negative remarks about Israel, several also suggested that the move is payback for House Democrats removing two hardline right Republicans from their posts in the last Congress.
Ilhan Omar walks to her office flanked by AOC, Rep. Sara Jacobs (over her left shoulder) and a scrum of reporters
‘The overwhelming number of members I talked to are – they don’t feel like given her past and perhaps current views that she should have a seat on Foreign Affairs,’ South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson said.
Omar’s fellow House Foreign Affairs Committee member Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky told DailyMail.com that’s he’s spoken to the congresswoman about the current situation and she has a ‘right to free speech’ – but not to a committee post.
‘The Foreign Affairs committee involves, you know, sensitive intelligence briefings and things like that, and when it comes to our national security and when it comes to our relationship with Israel, her views have a bearing on her ability to serve on that committee,’ Barr said.
Barr also pointed out that Republicans are giving Omar an avenue for ‘due process’ after Indiana GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz agreed to support the resolution on Tuesday night if the progressive had an avenue to appeal the decision to the House Ethics Committee.
‘We are providing a process,’ Barr said. ‘We’re providing an appeal.’
Alluding to Democrats stripping firebrand GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of her previous committee assignments over inflammatory social media posts before she joined Congress, he also said: ‘We are also not kicking people off of committees because of statements that they’ve made before they were in Congress. These are statements she’s made as a member of Congress.’
‘And that is a significant distinction between what Speaker Pelosi did and what Kevin McCarthy did.’
Rep. Tom Cole, who chairs the committee that passed Tuesday night’s resolution to boot Omar off of Foreign Affairs, told reporters on Wednesday morning that the full House process could start as soon as today.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed retribution for the removal of Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar from their committees in the last Congress
‘They were warned two years ago, ‘If you do this, there will be consequences.’ You’re not going to, you know, deny our members committees, and kick Kevin McCarthy appointees off things like the January 6 committee while you put their political equivalents on and think there’s not going to be consequences with the majority changes,’ Cole said. ‘Now, the chickens are coming home to roost, so to speak.’
He added, ‘What I hope happens is each side learns something from this and we don’t go down this road again.’
‘But it’s not going to be a situation where they were allowed to do that to our members, and now they don’t even acknowledge what they did was a mistake, that might help,’ Cole said.
Along with Greene’s removal for social media activity parroting QAnon conspiracies and calling for violence against high profile Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 117th Congress also removed Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar for posting a video depicting himself attacking progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Florida Rep. Byron Donalds incredulously asked DailyMail.com, ‘Are you serious?’ when questioned about why he believes Omar should be kicked off the high-profile Foreign Affairs panel.
‘First of all, Congresswoman Omar – this is now the third time that issues have been made about her anti-Semitic comments. In 2019. There was a resolution brought to the House floor, specifically about her, that Nancy Pelosi watered down to just say Congress opposes antisemitism,’ Donalds said.
‘Well, of course Congress opposes antisemitism, but there is one member that has had this rhetorical issue, and frankly philosophical issue, for some time.
‘We have our political issues here in the United States. We all know that. But Israel being our most important ally in that region has not been a point of this- of disagreement between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to foreign policy, save for one member. So why should that member continue to sit on Foreign Affairs?’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
