Omar: Kevin McCarthy 'Is a Liar and a Coward' — GOP 'Normalizing' Bigotry

Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was a “liar and a coward” for how he handled Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) calling Omar the “jihad squad.”

Anchor Jake Tapper said, “I want to start with those comments, Boebert comparing you to a terrorist suicide bomber. What is it like to hear that kind of blatant bigotry coming from a fellow member of the House of Representatives?”

Omar said, “It’s shocking and unacceptable. It’s very unbecoming of a congresswoman to use that kind of derogatory, dangerous, inciting language against a colleague.”

Tapper said, “Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has not publicly condemned Boebert’s comments. On Friday, he was asked, why not? Take a listen to what he said.”

During a news conference, McCarthy said, “She apologized publicly. She apologized personally. She wanted to meet personally, denied the ability to meet personally. She picked up the phone, and she called Congresswoman Omar. She said I want to personally apologize to you. That’s what she did.”

Tapper said, “To be clear, after her conversation with you, Boebert went on social media and doubled down and said things that were equally incendiary. What’s your reaction to McCarthy and how he described it?”

Omar said, “McCarthy is a liar and a coward. He doesn’t have the ability to condemn the kind of bigoted Islamophobia and anti-Muslim that are being trafficked by members of his conference.”

Tapper asked, “Why doesn’t he have the ability to do that?”

Omar said, “This is who they are. We have to be able to stand up to them. We have to push them to reckon with the fact that their party right now is normalizing anti-Muslim bigotry.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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