AOC Dubs Kevin McCarthy Leader of the ‘Ku Klux Klan Caucus’ for Inaction on Threats to Ilhan Omar
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) strongly criticized House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (D-CA) on Wednesday for what she sees as his deliberate effort “to look aside & allow violent targeting of woc [women of color] members of Congress.”
Ocasio-Cortez was responding to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a fellow member of the so-called “Squad,” making public Tuesday a threatening voicemail she received in the wake of Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-CO) anti-Muslim comments comparing her to a suicide bomber.
In the voicemail, which Omar shared in a press conference calling for GOP leaders to address anti-Muslim sentiment, an unidentified man calls Omar a “jihadist” and threatens her life.
Omar said, “This kind of hateful rhetoric and actions cannot go without punishment. There has to be accountability. If and when the Republican conference fails to do so, it is going to be our job to do that.”
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Wednesday morning:
People truly don’t understand the scale, intensity, & volume of threats targeting @IlhanMN.
Kevin McCarthy is so desperate to be speaker that he is working with his Ku Klux Klan caucus to look aside & allow violent targeting of woc members of Congress.
This cannot be ignored.
People truly don’t understand the scale, intensity, & volume of threats targeting @IlhanMN.
Kevin McCarthy is so desperate to be speaker that he is working with his Ku Klux Klan caucus to look aside & allow violent targeting of woc members of Congress.
This cannot be ignored. https://t.co/ppridf6bZl
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 1, 2021
Ocasio-Cortez added:
While people toss out clichés like “we condemn all forms of racism & bigotry,” the fact is Islamophobia is far too often tolerated and ignored.
Bigotry is not made unacceptable by what one says about it, it’s made acceptable based on whether there are consequences for it or not.
She concluded by suggesting that Boebert’s comments are part of a wider trend in the House Republican conference. “GOP are given freedom to incite without consequence,” she argued. “They don’t have to pay for the security required from their acts- we do. They make money off it.”
It’s not just about nasty phone calls and e-mails.
GOP are given freedom to incite without consequence. They don’t have to pay for the security required from their acts- we do. They make money off it.
&They are targeting those least likely to be institutionally protected first.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 1, 2021
