House Republicans introduce racist, misogynistic resolution that targets the Squad
Republicans just can’t get enough of Congress’ squad of boss-women. Throughout Donald Trump’s time in office, he repeatedly targeted Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (nicknamed AOC), in addition to other freshmen female Congress members including Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. The three he belittled and called “AOC plus three” refer to themselves as “the Squad,” and have a national reputation for being unapologetic and fierce. Continuing Trump’s tradition of targeting them with hate, Republicans are coming at the Squad again, this time by attempting to pass legislation to censor them.
Multiple House Republicans introduced a resolution Monday to censure and condemn the members of the Squad under the guise that they have been “defending terrorist organizations and inciting anti-Semitic attacks across the United States.” Introduced by Reps. Michael Waltz, Jim Banks, and Claudia Tenney, the resolution refers to multiple incidents or comments made by the four lawmakers, most recently in regard to Israel and Palestine.
It claims that with their comments, the four are supporting terrorist organizations and mentions Omar’s accusation of the U.S. supporting “crimes against humanity,” Ocasio-Cortez’s accusation that the Israeli government is committing “human rights abuses,” Tlaib’s accusation of “ethnic cleansing,” and Pressley’s comment that supporting Israel is equivalent to “supporting oppression, violence, and apartheid.” Overall, the resolution argues that such comments make the group antisemitic and supportive of violence against the Jewish community.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to members of Congress openly defending terrorist attacks by Hamas against our close ally Israel nor their dangerous rhetoric which has contributed to anti-Semitic attacks across the country,” Waltz said in a press release.
Tenney shared similar sentiments. “Last week, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar compared the United States and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban,” Tenney said. “Sadly, this is not out of character for ‘The Squad,’ who have made a habit of trafficking in anti-Semitic rhetoric. Their actions have been completely unchecked by Democratic leadership in the House, even as vile attacks against Jewish Americans are rising.”
The move comes days after comments made by Omar, which conservatives claiming she connected war crimes committed by the United States and Israel to those by the Taliban and Hamas.
“We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity. We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban. I asked @SecBlinken where people are supposed to go for justice,” Omar said in a statement posted to Twitter.
Following the uproar over her remarks, Omar attempted to clarify them by noting she was not equating the U.S. and Israel with terrorist organizations, as some conservatives have claimed. Her comments were criticized not only by conservatives, who took this opportunity to target her further with Islamophobic comments, but by some Democrats as well, who failed to show support.
“On Monday, I asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken about … ongoing International Criminal Court investigations. To be clear: the conversation was about accountability for specific incidents regarding those ICC cases, not a moral comparison between Hamas and the Taliban and the U.S. and Israel,” she said in a statement.
Her statement followed a joint statement by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her entire leadership team which noted that “drawing false equivalencies” between democracies and “groups that engage in terrorism” … “foments prejudice and undermines progress toward a future of peace and security for all.” Many Democrats were surprised to see the statement and felt as though Pelosi and others failed to support Omar and rebuke the hate she received. As a result, on Sunday Pelosi clarified that House leadership “did not rebuke” Omar and called her a “valued member” during a segment on CNN.
Omar has consistently faced hate from conservatives and House Republicans alike. In addition to the resolution to censor the Squad, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has also introduced a resolution to remove Omar from her seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
“Rep. Omar’s anti-Semitic & anti-American comments are abhorrent,” McCarthy tweeted last week. “Speaker Pelosi’s continued failure to address the issues in her caucus sends a message to the world that Democrats are tolerant of anti-Semitism and sympathizing with terrorists. It’s time for the speaker to act.”
While this resolution to censor the Squad will clearly not pass, censorship resolutions are not a new thing in the House. In February, House Democrats successfully stripped Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments for spreading conspiracy theories, racist language, and violence against Democratic politicians, NBC News reported.