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Ilhan Omar hangs up on apologetic Boebert as partisan spat continues

Ilhan Omar and Lauren Boebart have gone head to head, trading accusations of bigotry and racism. 

By Donna Rachel Edmunds, World Israel News. 

The very public spat between Republican Rep Lauren Boebert and Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar continues after Omar hung up on Boebert during a reconciliatory phone call.

Taking to Instagram in a video update on the matter, Boebert said that she reached out to Omar’s office because she “wanted to let her know directly that I had reflected on my previous remarks.”

However, that call, which took place Monday, did not go well.

“As a strong, Christian woman who values faith deeply, I never want anything I say to offend someone’s religion. So I told her that,” Boebert recounted. “Even after I put out a public statement to that effect, she said that she still wanted a public apology because what I had done wasn’t good enough. So I reiterated to her what I had just said,” she continued.

“She kept asking for a public apology so I told Ilhan Omar that she should make a public apology to the American people for her anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-police rhetoric. She continued to press and I continued to press back. And then, Representative Omar hung up on me.”

The latest spat centers around a joke Boebert was filmed making to a group of supporter, in which she said that she had been getting into an elevator in the Capitol when she saw police officer running toward her as he unsuccessfully tried to catch the doors before they closed. To cheers from the audience, she said, “I look to my left, and there she is, Ilhan Omar. And I say to myself, ‘Well, she doesn’t have a backpack, we should be fine.’ I looked over and I said, ‘Oh look, the jihad squad decided to show up for work today.’”

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Responding to the video statement, Omar tweeted a statement of her own, saying: “Today I graciously accepted a call from Rep. Lauren Boebert in the hope of receiving a direct apology for falsely claiming she met me in an elevator, suggesting I was a terrorist, and for a history of anti-Muslim hate.”

“Instead of apologizing for her Islamophobic comments and fabricated lies, Rep. Boebert refused to publicly acknowledge her hurtful and dangerous comments. She instead doubled down on her rhetoric and I decided to end the unproductive call.”

Both lawmakers used their statements to take partisan shots, with Omar accusing the Republican Party leadership of doing “nothing to condemn and hold their own members accountable for repeated instances of anti-Muslim hate and harassment.”

She added: “This is not about one hateful statement or one politician, it’s about a party that has mainstreamed bigotry and hatred.”

Boebert, meanwhile, argued: “Rejecting an apology and hanging up on someone is part of Cancel Culture 101 and a pillar of the Democrat party,” adding “Make no mistake, I will continue to fearlessly put America first, never sympathizing with terrorists. Unfortunately, Ilhan can’t say the same thing.”

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She continued: “This isn’t about religion, it’s about the horrible, failed Democrat policies and anti-Americanism that I will call out each and every time I hear it,” before signing off: “God bless you and God bless America.”