Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized House Republicans on Thursday for a resolution to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a fellow progressive lawmaker, from the Foreign Affairs Committee.
It is about targeting women of color in the United States of America, Ocasio-Cortez, D-N. Y. said.
Omar, a Muslim American who has been a staunch opponent of Israel and the Jewish lobby, was removed by Republicans on Thursday for what lawmakers from both parties said were antisemitic remarks.
Consistency? There is nothing consistent with the Republican Party's continued attacks, except for racism and incitement of violence against women of color in this body, Ocasio-Cortez said.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a New York Republican, said before Ocasio-Cortez addressed the House floor that the resolution to remove Omar was about consistency. Malliotakis said I am being consistent, and I hope my colleagues will do the same to show that this is about accountability and consistency. We should not have an individual with those views on the committee that is tasked with representing our country and Congress to foreign nations. Ocasio-Cortez fired back, saying Republicans repeatedly elevated members of their caucus to prized committee assignments, including a GOP lawmaker who threatened her life.
In 2021, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., shared an animation on Twitter that depicted him killing the congresswoman, which resulted in him being stripped of his committee assignments. Gosar was elevated to the Oversight and Accountability and Natural Resources committees last month, a move that Ocasio-Cortez said rewarded him. Ocasio-Cortez challenged Republicans on inconsistencies related to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who came under scrutiny for antisemitic remarks during her first term in Congress.
In remarks before her election, Greene claimed that the 2018 California wildfires were started by Jewish space lasers, and she has also suggested that school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut and Parkland, Florida were staged. Greene was removed from committees during her freshman term, but she's since won some of the highest committee assignments in this body, Ocasio-Cortez noted. She also assuming positions on the Oversight and Homeland Security committees.