U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Thursday hit back at her Republican colleagues after the House voted along party lines to remove U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over previous comments she made about Israel.
Ocasio-Cortez in a minute-long speech first compared the move to the Islamophobia following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
“Consistency? There is nothing consistent with the Republican Party’s continued attack, except for the racism and incitement of violence against women of color in this body,” Ocasio-Cortez alleged. Prior to Ocasio-Cortez’s comments, U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said the move to remove Omar was “about consistency.”
Ocasio-Cortez in her remarks also targeted other GOP moves to assign lawmakers to some committees, saying “I had a member of the Republican caucus threaten my life, and you all … and the Republican caucus rewarded him with one of the most prestigious committee assignments in this Congress.”
The New York representative did not name the specific lawmaker, but in 2021, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., posted an anime video edited to show him killing Ocasio-Cortez. Gosar has been named to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
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Ocasio-Cortez also referenced “a member of the Republican caucus who has talked about Jewish space lasers.”
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., – before joining Congress – suggested conspiracy theories about deadly wildfires in California.
Omar: ‘Who gets to be an American’
Omar on the floor of the House on Thursday said “This debate today is about who gets to be an American.”
“I am an American. An American who was sent here by her constituents to represent them in Congress,” she said.
“Is anyone surprised that I am being targeted? Is anyone surprised that I am somehow deemed unworthy to speak about American foreign policy?” she said on the House floor before the vote.
Omar has criticized Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and questioned U.S. aid to Israel. Some of her comments have received criticism from both sides of the aisle. For example, during a town hall event, she suggested Israel demands “allegiance” from American lawmakers.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., denied that the decision to remove Omar was a response to Greene and Gosar being removed from committees when Democrats controlled the House.
“This is nothing like the last Congress,” he said Thursday, explaining that Omar can still remain on other panels.
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Contributing: Rachel Looker and Ledyard King, USA TODAY; Associated Press
