Ilhan Omar Called Out for 'Mind-Boggling' Comments as Rep Says GOP Has Votes to Kick Her Off Committee

By Samantha Chang February 2, 2023 at 7:08am

The GOP-led House of Representatives will vote on whether to remove Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, citing her history of anti-American and anti-Semitic comments.

The House voted on Tuesday to send House Resolution 76 to the floor for a vote, which could take place as early as Thursday.

Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York told Fox Business host Stuart Varney that the GOP has enough votes to oust Omar from the committee.

“I believe we do have the votes,” Malliotakis said Wednesday on “Varney & Co.” “The issue is right now is we have two members who are not in Washington. So it may be postponed, but I do believe we will have the votes to remove her.”

The congresswoman said Omar’s history of trashing both the United States — the nation she’s supposed to represent — and its ally Israel disqualifies her from serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

It’s simple.

Someone who compared Israel & USA to Hamas & Taliban, thinks we are responsible for the turmoil in socialist countries like Venezuela & tried to diminish the 9/11 attacks should NOT serve on the committee tasked with representing Congress to foreign countries. pic.twitter.com/24QqG4HHkO

— Office of Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (@RepMalliotakis) February 1, 2023

“I’ve made the argument to my colleagues; it’s not just the anti-Semitic comments that she’s made that we’re all aware of,” Malliotaki explained. “I’ve been in these Foreign Affairs meetings where she actually compares Israel and the U.S. to Hamas and the Taliban.

“The fact that she can’t differentiate between the two is mind-boggling.”

“You said that Israel ‘hypnotized the world.’ You said Israel is an ‘apartheid regime,’ that politicians with pro-Israel stances were ‘all about the Benjamins,’…compared the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban.”

Ilhan Omar: “Yeah I might’ve used words at the time” pic.twitter.com/c48czAu7Ni

— Terri Green (@TerriGreenUSA) January 29, 2023

Malliotaki added: “And she has also blamed the United States for the crisis that was created by Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela … in their socialist government.”

WOW: @IlhanMN says the U.S. has “helped lead the devastation in #Venezuela,” and accuses the U.S. on “bullying” the Maduro regime.

Apparently Maduro’s starvation of his people and armored trucks running them over in the streets is not worthy of criticism in her eyes. pic.twitter.com/leTcRHWDVd

— John Cooper (@thejcoop) May 1, 2019

“So the fact that this woman can’t differentiate these things, and she also thinks that the biggest terrorist attack on our soil — 9/11 — was just ‘some people did something,’ is very offensive to me as a New Yorker,” she told Fox Business.

“She should not be representing our nation to foreign governments, and that is why she needs to be removed from this committee.”

Omar, a Muslim Somali refugee who was rescued by a U.S. Christian church, has been condemned by members of her own party for her anti-American and anti-Semitic remarks.

In June 2021, a dozen Democrats issued a stern statement rebuking the congresswoman for her divisive comments.

“Equating the United States and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban is as offensive as it is misguided,” the statement read.

“Ignoring the differences between democracies governed by the rule of law and contemptible organizations that engage in terrorism at best discredits one’s intended argument and at worst reflects deep-seated prejudice.”

The GOP controls the House by a margin of 222 seats to 213, giving Republicans the opportunity to pass the resolution to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy vowed back in June 2021 that he would get Omar kicked off the committee if the GOP regained control of the lower chamber.

Should Ilhan Omar lose her seat on the committee?

However, it was freshman Congressman Max Miller of Ohio — not McCarthy — who introduced House Resolution 76, citing her inability to act impartially on foreign affairs given the contempt she has shown toward the United States and Israel.

“Foreign Affairs Committee Members are regarded as credible emissaries of American foreign policy,” Miller said in a statement Tuesday. “Their words have significant weight in guiding our relations with other countries and are relied upon by world leaders, most importantly, our allies such as Israel.”

He continued: “This is not about politics or engaging in a tit-for-tat with the Democrats. Members of Congress from across the ideological spectrum have condemned Congresswoman Omar’s comments, and even the Democrat former Chairman of the Committee said that her comments had no place on the Committee.”

Notable that this resolution comes from freshman Ohio @RepMaxMiller, one of just two Jewish House Republicans.

“Congresswoman Omar clearly cannot be an objective decision-maker on the Foreign Affairs Committee given her biases against Israel and against the Jewish people.” https://t.co/4Pi6VmU71L pic.twitter.com/tiUsHnQfeh

— Taylor Popielarz (@TaylorPopielarz) January 31, 2023

Miller, who is Jewish, was especially rankled by Omar’s anti-Semitism, which he said impairs her credibility and impartiality.

“Congresswoman Omar clearly cannot be an objective decision-maker on the Foreign Affairs Committee given her biases against Israel and against the Jewish people,” he said.

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