Two Republican representatives, Nancy Mace (SC) and Victoria Spartz (IN) indicated they will vote in support of controversial Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) next week to keep her seat on the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The pair offer a rare GOP defense of Omar in the wake of their colleagues accusing her of anti-Semitic statements. The representative is also noted for her fierce opposition to Israel and even compared the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban.
McCarthy May Not Be Able To Keep Key Promise To Remove Omar From Committee https://t.co/cAtNrOs790
— Conservative Brief (@ConservBrief) January 27, 2023
Omar asserted in 2021 that Israel “hypnotized the world” and that for politicians who support the democratic nation, it’s “all about the Benjamins baby.”
Democrats, of course, began the recent practice of removing controversial opposition party members from their committee assignments. In the last Congress, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) found their assignments stripped over claims of “inciting violence.”
Spartz said earlier this week that former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) actions to remove the Republican representatives without due process were wrong. She added, however, that “two wrongs do not make a right” and criticized House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for the “charade.”
With all Democrats expected to vote in her favor and two GOP House members joining them, the new Speaker cannot afford more defections in next week’s vote over Omar’s assignment.
Omar also upped the ante this week by accusing McCarthy of being “racist” and “xenophobic” for his efforts to end her time on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
She tweeted that she is the only African-born member of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Global Human Rights. Her omission, she claimed, would eliminate a “unique voice.”
It would also result in the “elimination of all the voices that have never been heard on a committee on the continent.” She previously complained that McCarthy’s announced intention was nothing more than a “political stunt.”
Omar appears intent on playing every card in the deck to gain sympathy for her plight. McCarthy along with many Republicans pledged for months to strip the plum assignment away from her, and she has no one to blame but herself for controversial statements that she knew would offend others.
