Lauren Boebert Apologizes for “Unnecessary Distraction” of Her Bigoted Comments About Ilhan Omar

Boebert is sorry. Sort of.

Tom Williams/ZUMA

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

Footage of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) making a racist comment about her colleague, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) surfaced this week. And Boebert is very sorry. Sort of.

In a video shared on social media by Patriot Takes, a left-wing organization that posts unflattering videos of Trumpy political figures, Boebert tells a crowd the (dubious) story of what she calls a “jihad squad moment.” In this fib constructed to appeal to voters (I guess?), Boebert says she and Omar were sharing an elevator in the Capitol when a police officer ran toward them. Her bigoted punchline goes: “I look to my left, and there she is, Ilhan Omar. I said, ‘Well she doesn’t have a backpack, we should be fine.’ ”

The crowd laughs and cheers.

On Thursday, Omar, the first Somali American elected to Congress, responded—saying the anecdote was fake and calling the Colorado representative a “buffoon.”

“Anti-Muslim bigotry isn’t funny & shouldn’t be normalized,” Omar tweeted. “Congress can’t be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation.”

 

Democratic leadership addressed the situation in a statement on Friday: “Congresswoman Boebert’s repeated, ongoing and targeted Islamophobic comments and actions against another Member of Congress, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, are both deeply offensive and concerning,” it read. “We call on the Republican Leadership to address this priority with the Congresswoman and to finally take real action to confront racism.”

Boebert’s limp apology came via tweet.

PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

payment methods

PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate