WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar said on Sunday that she is confident House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will take “decisive action” in coming days against Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert, for remarks about Omar that have been decried as Islamophobic.
Boebert described Omar, a Muslim who was born in Somalia, as a member of a “jihad squad” at an event in her home state of Colorado last month and said it was safe to ride with her in a Capitol elevator if she was not wearing a backpack.
A first-term lawmaker who has vowed to defy Washington’s gun laws, Boebert apologized for the comments. But a phone call between the two women ended in rancor with Boebert showing no sign of remorse. Democrats later called for the House to strip Boebert of her committee assignments for what they called anti-Muslim bigotry.
“I have had a conversation with the speaker, and I’m very confident that she will take decisive action next week,” Omar told CNN’s “State of the Union” program.
“When I first got to Congress, I was worried that I wasn’t going to be allowed to be sworn in because there was a ban on the hijab. She promised me that she would take care of it. She fulfilled that promise. She’s made another promise to me that she will take care of this. And I believe her.”
There was no immediate comment from Pelosi or Boebert.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy defended Boebert last week, saying she had apologized publicly and personally to Omar.
Omar did not say what action Pelosi might take.
The Democratic-controlled House censured Republican Representative Paul Gosar last month for an anime video that depicted him killing progressive congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and swinging a pair of swords at President Joe Biden. It also stripped Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments earlier this year for past remarks supporting violence against Democrats.
Boebert, Gosar and Greene are all hard-line conservatives and outspoken allies of former President Donald Trump.
(Reporting by David Morgan and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Mary Milliken and Daniel Wallis)
