Omar escapes House censure over comments about Charlie Kirk

WASHINGTON Rep Ilhan Omar narrowly avoided censure late Wednesday as she fell victim to an aggressive GOP campaign that seeks to punish those who criticize hard-right activist Charlie Kirk the victim of an assassination last week The U S House rejected a measure on a - vote that would have stripped Omar of her committee assignments because of comments she made soon after Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University last week Four Republicans joined all Democrats in rejecting the effort to censure Omar so the th District Democrat will continue to sit on the Instruction and Workforce Committee and the Budget Committee Those four Republicans were Reps Mike Flood R-Neb Tom McClintock R-Calif Jeff Hurd R-Colo and Cory Mills R-Fla Thank you to my colleagues for having my back and not furthering lies on the House floor Omar posted on X after the vote Appreciate them safeguarding first amendment protections and the usage of the censure Omar s troubles began because of an interview with British broadcaster Mehdi Hasan the day after Kirk s shooting In that interview Omar was empathetic and reported the assassination was mortifying All I could think about was his wife his children Omar revealed My heart does break for those babies But Omar also criticized those who revealed Kirk was a champion of civil debate saying Kirk s divisive comments about gun violence slavery and the killing of George Floyd belie this That was enough for Rep Nancy Mace R-South Carolina who is running for governor She sponsored the censure resolution and called Omar s comments vile and disgraceful Omar argued Mace was trying to censure her for comments she never announced Mace s resolution also condemned Omar s reposting of videos and other social media comments about Kirk Largest part of those posts criticized those who condemned political violence while having been supporters and propagators of Kirk s divisive comments One anonymous post called Kirk a reprehensible human being Things deteriorated speedily as Omar was at the center of a heated debate about free speech and Kirk In an online fight on X Omar called Mace crazy and accused her of pushing a false story so she can fundraise and boost her run for governor Mace in turn called for Omar s deportation to the nation of her birth Somalia And her effort caught the attention of President Donald Trump who called Omar a disgusting person because of her criticisms of Kirk Meanwhile Rep Angie Craig D- nd District slapped back at Mace with a post on X that commented this attack on our colleague illhan does nothing to turn down the temperature in our politics at a time when we desperately need it It s time to stop playing political games Related House votes to oust Rep Ilhan Omar from Foreign Affairs Committee The attempt to censure Omar is part of an effort by Republican lawmakers Kirk s hard-right supporters and even Vice President JD Vance to punish those who have criticized Kirk after his death Chosen make little distinction between those who condemned the assassination but are critical of Kirk and those who are jubilant about Kirk s death accusing all of supporting political violence Rep Derrick Van Orden R-Wisconsin has introduced a bill that would block federal funds to entities that employ people who condone and employ political violence other GOP lawmakers want to form a new House committee devoted to studying the radical left s assault on the rule of law And when he guest-hosted an episode of the Charlie Kirk Show this week Vance stated people who celebrated Kirk s killing should be held accountable Call them out and hell call their employer Vance stated An increasing number of people including a journalist and a clinician as well as teachers and ruling body employees have been suspended or fired for comments that were deemed inappropriate about Kirk s death And Long Island New York tabloid Newsday was forced to apologize for running a syndicated political cartoon that Kirk supporters deemed offensive While Omar escaped punishment Wednesday she has been censured before She lost her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee in after the U S House voted along party lines on a GOP resolution that accused the lawmaker of antisemitic remarks The post Omar escapes House censure over comments about Charlie Kirk appeared first on MinnPost