Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert is walking back her offensive anti-Muslim comments regarding Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar.
On Thanksgiving, a Twitter account called PatriotTakes posted a video showing Boebert speaking to a crowd and implying that Omar was a terrorist, which sparked widespread outrage. In the clip, Boebert says that while she was taking an elevator in the Capitol, she saw a police officer running towards her and noticed Omar standing next to her.
”Well, she doesn’t have a backpack. We should be fine,” Boebert recounted the incident to the audience, who began laughing. “And I said, ‘Oh look, the jihad squad decided to show up for work today.’”
Many democrats slammed Boebert for her comments, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Omar herself, who called for the House and other republicans to reprimand Boebert.
“Anti-Muslim bigotry isn’t funny & shouldn’t be normalized. Congress can’t be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation,” Omar tweeted.
On Friday, Boebert took to Twitter to offer an apology, though many users called her out for its insincerity.
“I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep. Omar,” she wrote. She added, “There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without this unnecessary distraction.”
The Black Caucus called Boebert’s “uniquely grotesque brand of bigotry” despicable.
As of now, Boebert has not faced consequences for her remarks.
