Omar blasts GOP’s ‘Islamophobia’ amid committee removal bid: ‘They’re not OK’ with Muslims ‘having a voice’

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., accused Republicans of Islamophobia on Sunday after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy moved to eject her from the House Foreign Affairs Committee for what he described as antisemitic remarks.

Omar appeared Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” alongside Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., after McCarthy removed the latter two from the House Intelligence Committee, citing national security concerns.

Omar, who has apologized in the past for repeating antisemitic tropes, said Republicans are targeting her because she’s Muslim. 

“It is politically motivated, and in some cases motivated by the fact that many of these members don’t believe a Muslim refugee, an African, should even be in Congress, let alone have the opportunity to serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee,” she said.

Reps. Adam Schiff, left, Ilhan Omar and Eric Swalwell conduct a news conference on being removed from committees assignments, in the Capitol Visitor Center on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023.
(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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CNN anchor Dana Bash interjected, saying Omar has “said this before” and that it seemed like she was “accusing Kevin McCarthy of racism.”

“I mean, I’m not making any accusations,” Omar responded. “I’m just laying out the facts. You remember Donald Trump coming into my state and saying Muslims, Somali refugees are infiltrating our country. You remember Marjorie Taylor Greene coming to Congress after Rashida [Tlaib] and I got sworn in and saying Muslims are infiltrating Congress. You remember [Lauren] Boebert saying that I was a terrorist. What did McCarthy do? He said, ‘she apologized, and we don’t have to worry about her Islamophobia.’”

“These people are OK with Islamophobia,” she continued. “They’re OK with trafficking, in their own ways, in antisemitism. They are not OK with having a Muslim have a voice on that committee.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Ilhan Omar
(Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

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Omar previously labeled McCarthy “racist” and “xenophobic” for trying to remove her from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

McCarthy has said he is removing Omar from the position as she has upset many of her colleagues in the past with controversial anti-Israel statements that highlighted antisemitic tropes.

She once said, “It’s all about the Benjamins, baby” to explain why McCarthy criticized her for opposing the Jewish country. She also sparked backlash for a remark comparing the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, joined by Rep. Jim Jordan, speaks at a news conference on July 21, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

McCarthy, as House speaker, has the authority to approve committee appointments offered by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. While McCarthy had the authority to remove Schiff and Swalwell from their select committee without a vote, a full House vote is needed for Omar’s removal. 

McCarthy can only afford to lose four votes in passing the resolution to remove Omar, and Reps. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Ken Buck, R-Colo., have said they will vote against it.

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Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., is also recovering at home with an injury, giving McCarthy zero wiggle room.

Fox News’ Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.