Rep. Buck on Omar's Israel comment: If Pelosi truly cares about accountability, action should be taken
Rep. Ilhan Omar backpedals U.S.-Israel comments after Democrat colleagues condemn remarks; Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is responsible for stopping the 'anti-Semitism' from 'Squad' members in Congress.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that Democratic leadership won't take further action against Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. over a controversial tweet that asserted the U.S. and Israel, like Hamas and the Taliban, were guilty of "unthinkable atrocities."
Omar clarified her tweet Thursday after facing condemnation from both sides of the aisle and said she didn't mean to equate the U.S. and Israel with the terrorist groups.
Pelosi was asked at a press conference Friday if House leaders should take further action against Omar, who has a history of inflammatory remarks.
The speaker did not even let the reporter finish asking the question before answering in the negative.
REP. ILHAN OMAR BACKPEDALS COMMENTS ABOUT US, ISRAEL AFTER DEMOCRATIC COLLEAGUES CONDEMN HER REMARKS
"I think that she clarified her remarks and we accept that, and she has a point that she wanted to make and she has a right to make that point," Pelosi said. "There's some unease about how it was interpreted."
"She made her clarification," Pelosi added before moving onto the next question.
The Speaker’s actions are certainly not going to sit well with some GOP House members who were already warning Pelosi about a double standard.
Eight House Republicans, led by Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida in a letter to Pelosi demanded she remove Omar from her committee assignments – just as Democrats earlier this year pushed to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., from her committee assignments after making controversial comments.
Also on Capitol Hill, National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman Mike Berg told Fox News that Pelosi’s decision to not pursue further action against the Minnesota Democrat is "disgraceful."
TOP DEMS REBUKE ILHAN OMAR FOR US, ISRAEL COMPARISON TO TERRORIST GROUPS: ‘NO MORAL EQUIVALENCY’
"It is disgraceful that Speaker Pelosi is choosing to stand with anti-Semite Ilhan Omar instead of the countless Americans who found her remarks appalling," Berg told Fox News on Friday. "Speaker Pelosi should immediately call a vote to remove Ilhan Omar from her committee assignments."
Pelosi's attempt to move past the controversy comes after other left-wing Democrats rallied to Omar's defense and criticized party leadership.
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"Pretty sick [and] tired of the constant vilification, intentional mischaracterization, and public targeting of Rep. Ilhan Omar coming from our caucus," New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, tweeted on Thursday.
They have no concept for the danger they put her in by skipping private conversations & leaping to fueling targeted news cycles around her."
Another of Omar's fellow "Squad" members, Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, also tore into Democratic leadership in her own tweet on Thursday, writing: "Freedom of speech doesn't exist for Muslim women in Congress. The benefit of the doubt doesn't exist for Muslim women in Congress. House Democratic leadership should be ashamed of its relentless, exclusive tone policing of Congresswomen of color."
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