In 2021, Rep. Paul A. Gosser (R-Arizona) and Marjorie Taylor-Green (R-Georgia) lost commission commission after embracing violent rhetoric that targeted their peers . Gosar posted a video showing him killing Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.). CNN unearthed Greene’s comments where she appeared to support the execution of Democrats. McCarthy proposed demoting Green’s commission assignments, but the Democratic majority chose to remove them all.
This year, McCarthy became Speaker of the House. And soon, he announced that many Democrats would be ousted from important committees. With the dismissal of Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-California) and Eric Swalwell (D-California) from the House Intelligence Committee, he said, Rep. will lose its position.
Swalwell and Schiff were targeted because the former was linked to Chinese intelligence officials (whose ties are stronger in the conservative media world than they actually are), and the latter was targeted by Donald Trump in 2019. Because he was a key figure in impeaching the president. Her official reason for Omar’s dismissal centers on anti-Semitic comments she made in her past. This comment undoubtedly contributed to the outrage that is related to her Muslim religion.
Speaking to CNN about McCarthy’s proposal, Omar suggested her religion played a role. I don’t believe there is, much less an opportunity to serve on the Committee on Foreign Relations.” She denied accusing McCarthy of racism, but Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) ) noted his relative indifference when he joked that Omar was a terrorist.
The path from Omar’s religion to her expulsion from the Foreign Affairs Committee is at least more circuitous than direct Islamophobic and racist beliefs, but it’s clear nonetheless.
Omar was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and was sworn into the Koran as a practicing Muslim in January 2019. Soon, right-wing social media memes began to falsely claim that she committed treason for doing so. In the months that followed, Omar was the subject of various unsubstantiated allegations. Much of it is based on her history as a refugee from Africa.
A few months after taking office, Omar praised the work of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, in a way that was framed to ignore the attack itself. sparked a conservative media frenzy. She had already apologized after posting a comment on social media that drew on her longstanding anti-Semitic rhetoric, which she claimed was inadvertent.
That summer, Trump attacked Omar and a group of other freshman legislators — all progressive women of color — who should “go back” to a “completely broken and crime-infested place.” said. Born in USA. (He had previously released an ad using footage of the burning World Trade Center to try to capitalize on Omar’s uproar over his 9/11 comments.) He neutralized the criticism. For several days the attacks continued by highlighting Omar’s anti-Semitic comments. of his comments as racist.
Trump also attacked Omar dozens of times over the next few years. By the 2020 presidential election, the attacks had done little more than evoke Omar’s name. No other context was needed.
“Omar is our secret weapon. Ilhan Omar, it’s our secret weapon in Minnesota,” he said at a rally in late October 2020. “No, she loves our country.” No. I don’t like people who don’t love our country at all.”
McCarthy (who was forced to delete his own tweets in 2018 that utilized anti-Semitic rhetoric similar to some of Omar’s) responded to Trump’s increasingly hostile rhetoric against Omar, saying, By 2021, however, he had embraced the obvious media value of attacking Schiff and Omar, and if Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives, he would denounce her “anti-Semitism.” He said he was removing Omar from the committee because of his “anti-American views”.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy follows Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota):
“I promise you this: if we are lucky enough to win a majority, Omar will not serve in foreign affairs. [Committee] Or someone with anti-Semitic, anti-American views. ” pic.twitter.com/aLUGsJfW2t
— Recount (@therecount) June 15, 2021
Deeming Omar “anti-American” was an immediate response. widely condemned tweet She condemned “unimaginable atrocities committed by the United States, Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan and the Taliban.” But remember, Trump’s explanation that she hates her country predates this tweet by more than half a year.
Many on the right clearly saw Omar’s loyalties in doubt from the beginning of his tenure. Various comments from Omar — some clearly problematic, others exaggerated by conservative media — were stapled to the narrative. Omar has become a prime example of the far-left, anti-Israel, and anti-American right-wing opposition framing, bolstered by Trump’s commentary and perceptions of her religion. This is how and why Trump promoted her, and in doing so, he created her political value by targeting her to other Republicans alike.
Of course, McCarthy and his allies do not see this as a function of Omar’s religion. In fact, Republicans are far less likely to say Muslims face discrimination than Americans as a whole. Christians are more likely to say that they are faced with
But if Omar had not made such comments about Israel, she would not have been targeted by McCarthy now. Wasn’t he a typical Muslim? This moment will probably be very different, too.
