Pressley offering measure condemning Boebert

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) is offering a resolution condemning Rep. Lauren Boebert‘s (R-Colo.) use of Islamaphobic rhetoric — including her recent comments directed at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) — that would also remove her from her current committee assignments.

The effort by a member of the so-called Squad of liberal lawmakers that also includes Omar follows widespread criticism of a joke offered by Boebert, who compared Omar to a terrorist. Omar is Muslim and wears a hijab. 

The Washington Post first reported the Pressley resolution. 

It’s not clear whether the move will have the support of Democratic leaders in the House, though there have been talks about a resolution broadly condemning Islamophobia. There have been growing cries among Democrats to take action against Boebert as separate videos of her making remarks about Omar have circulated.

In the videos, Boebert jokes that it is safe to be in an elevator with Omar since she is not wearing a backpack. Omar has said the story that she was in an elevator with Boebert is false.

A source familiar with Pressley’s plans confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday that 12 Democratic lawmakers have so far co-sponsored the resolution, including Reps. Cori Bush (Mo.), Judy Chu (Calif.), Jesús García (Ill.), Jimmy Gomez (Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Barbara Lee (Calif.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.).

“For a Member of Congress to repeatedly use hateful, anti-Muslim rhetoric and Islamophobic tropes towards a Muslim colleague is dangerous. It has no place in our society and it diminishes the honor of the institution we serve in,” Pressley said. “Without meaningful accountability for that Member’s actions, we risk normalizing this behavior and endangering the lives of our Muslim colleagues, Muslim staffers and every Muslim who calls America home. The House must unequivocally condemn this incendiary rhetoric and immediately pass this resolution. How we respond in moments like these will have lasting impacts, and history will remember us for it.”

Earlier this month, Pressley, along with Bowman, Bush, Jayapal and 34 other progressive lawmakers, called for Boebert to be stripped of her committee assignments.

“Rep. Boebert has repeatedly weaponized dangerous, anti-Muslim bigotry at our colleague Representative Ilhan Omar (MN-05). Instead of apologizing, Rep. Boebert has continued her Islamophobic rhetoric and chosen to spread hateful speech even further. In the face of death threats and vitriol being spewed at Rep. Omar, Representative Kevin McCarthy (CA-23)’s decision to allow and embolden continued hostility from his members speaks clearly to the Republican party’s willingness to allow hate and division to grow at the expense of our people, our values, and our institutions,” they wrote in a statement at the time.

McCarthy, the GOP leader in the House, contacted Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) about setting up a phone call between Omar and Boebert to clear the air. Unsurprisingly, that call ended in acrimony, with both lawmakers criticizing the other in separate statements.