AOC blasts House Republicans’ ‘racism’ ahead of vote to oust Omar from committee assignment
Cami Mondeaux
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) denounced House Republicans for issuing a “targeted” attack against her fellow “Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) ahead of a House vote to oust the latter from her position on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
“I think one of the things that we should talk about, and what is one of the disgusting legacies after 9/11, has been the targeting and racism against Muslim Americans throughout the United States of America, and this is an extension of that legacy,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a House speech on Thursday. “There is nothing consistent with the Republican Party’s continued attack except for the racism and the incitement of violence against women of color in this body.”
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1621187681974685697
HOUSE TO VOTE ON REP. ILHAN OMAR’S REMVOAL FROM FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE POST
Ocasio-Cortez’s comments come ahead of a scheduled vote to oust Omar from her position on the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee that several Democratic members, including Omar herself, have decried as a racist attack. Shortly after Ocasio-Cortez’s speech, Omar also took to the House floor to deliver similar remarks.
The firebrand Democrat continued her heated speech, accusing Republicans of hypocrisy by seeking to strip Omar of her committee assignment. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has long cited her anti-Israel positions and accusations that she is antisemitic.
“I had a member of the Republican caucus threaten my life, and the Republican caucus rewarded him with one of the most prestigious committee assignments in this Congress,” Ocasio-Cortez said, referring to the reinstatement of Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) to his committee assignments after being removed in the last Congress. Gosar was stripped of his assignments for posting a video that depicted an anime version of the Arizona Republican violently attacking Ocasio-Cortez.
“Don’t tell me this is about consistency. Don’t tell me this is a condemnation of antisemitic remarks when you have a member of the Republican caucus who has talked about Jewish space lasers,” Ocasio-Cortez added, referring to a comment from Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA), who suggested in December 2021 that “Jewish space lasers” caused the 2018 California wildfires.
“This is about targeting women of color in the United States of America,” Ocasio-Cortez concluded.
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The fiery House speech came ahead of a scheduled vote to remove Omar from her position on the prestigious Foreign Affairs Committee, setting up a high-profile showdown between Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Democrats.
Lawmakers voted on Wednesday to move forward with the resolution seeking to oust Omar from her committee assignment even before the Minnesota Democrat was named to the panel by Democratic leaders. Shortly after the House approved Democratic assignments for the committee, McCarthy announced a vote would be held on Thursday, with the speaker expressing confidence he has the votes to boot her from the panel.