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House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday Democrats are leaving open the option to potentially censure Rep. Lauren Boebert or remove her from her committee assignments as a dispute between her and “Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar continues to simmer.
“We’re considering what action ought to be taken,” Hoyer, D-Md., said when asked if Boebert, R-Colo., should be stripped of her committee assignments or censured.
Hoyer added that he didn’t want to “prejudge” what actions Democrats will take against Boebert because they haven’t had conversations about what they’ll do yet.
The dispute started when Boebert was recently filmed telling supporters that she had a run-in with Omar, D-Minn., in a Capitol building elevator. She said she was getting in the elevator with a staffer when she saw a Capitol police officer running toward them “with fret all over his face” in an effort to stop the elevator door from closing.
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., takes his face covering off as he speaks on the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, April 23, 2020. (House Television via AP)
REP. ILHAN OMAR HANGS UP ON REP. LAUREN BOEBERT AFTER TENSE PHONE CALL
Boebert added: “And I said, ‘Well, she doesn’t have a backpack. We should be fine.'”
Boebert faced swift backlash and apologized for her comment. But a phone call between the pair went poorly, according to all involved.
“Instead of apologizing for her Islamophobic comments and fabricated lies, Rep. Boebert refused to publicly acknowledge her hurtful and dangerous comments. She instead doubled down on her rhetoric and I decided to end the unproductive call,” Omar said in a statement.
“She kept asking for a public apology so I told Ilhan Omar that she should make a public apology to the American people for her anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-police rhetoric. She continued to press and I continued to press back. And then, Representative Omar hung up on me,” Boebert said.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., waits for the beginning of a news conference in front of the U.S. Capitol July 1, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
(Alex Wong/Getty Images)
House Democrats already stripped Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., of their committee assignments this year. And they formally censured Gosar over an animated video his office made showing him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
Before eventually saying the House could act against Boebert, Hoyer avoided giving a direct answer on what the House should do about her, simply criticizing Republicans for allowing moving “down a path of divisiveness, of acrimony, of threats.”
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Hoyer also said he recommended against Omar and Boebert speaking on the phone.
“Mr. McCarthy said he thought she wanted to apologize,” Hoyer said, referring to Boebert. “I called Mr. McCarthy back and I said I don’t think that will be a productive conversation.”
In this April 20, 2021, file photo, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., speaks in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, during a news conference.
(AP Photo/Morry Gash)
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And when Boebert did call Omar, Hoyer said, “It was not an apology, it was a rationalization.”
The Democratic leader also praised Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who sit on the Jan. 6 Committee, for breaking with their party on some issues.
“Ms. Cheney and Mr. Kinzinger have shown great courage to call out and criticize and ask accountability for language such as Ms. Boebert used,” Hoyer said.
Fox News’ Houston Keene contributed to this report.
