Ilhan Omar Speaks Out After Kevin McCarthy's Threats

McCarthy says he'll remove her from House Foreign Affairs Committee
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 22, 2022 1:42 AM CST
Ilhan Omar Responds to Kevin McCarthy's Threats
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., speaks to the crowd at the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party's election night party after winning reelection early Wednesday morning, Nov. 9, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn.   (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Ilhan Omar isn't taking Kevin McCarthy's threats lying down. McCarthy, currently the House Minority Leader, on Sunday repeated a previously-made promise to remove the Democrat representative from at least one of her committee posts if he's elected House Speaker once Republicans take the majority next year, the Hill reports. "From the moment I was elected, the Republican Party has made it their mission to use fear, xenophobia, Islamophobia and racism to target me on the House Floor and through millions of dollars of campaign ads," said Omar, who is Muslim, in a statement.

"Whether it is Marjorie Taylor Greene holding a gun next to my head in campaign ads or Donald Trump threatening to ‘send me back’ to my country (despite the fact that I have been a proud citizen of the United States for more than 20 years), this constant stream of hate has led to hundreds of death threats and credible plots against me and my family," her statement continued. Omar has been critical of Israel's actions against Palestinians, and McCarthy claims that criticism is "anti-Semitic" and would get her removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee. He'd made the same vow the day prior at the 2022 leadership meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Axios reports.

McCarthy also tweeted the threat, resulting in Twitter adding a "context" text box to the tweet explaining that the "Speaker does not have the power to remove a member from a standing committee. Foreign Affairs is a standing committee. Only a majority vote by the entire house could remove Rep. Omar." McCarthy is also threatening to strip Democrats Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff of committee posts over Swalwell's alleged former ties to a suspected Chinese spy and Schiff's support of the unverified Steele dossier, which alleged that then-President Trump had extensive ties to Russia. (More Ilhan Omar stories.)

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