The House on Sept. 17 narrowly blocked a Republican-led attempt to censure Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) after a week of partisan clashes over her comments on the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Congressman Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), also introduced a separate measure to remove Omar from her committees, calling her words vile, accusing her of justifying political violence.
In response to the ruling, Omar posted, “Thank you to my colleagues for having my back and not furthering lies on the House floor.”
Video Interview
The move to censure Omar started after a Sept. 11 interview she had with commentator Mehdi Hasan on Zeteo, just a day after Kirk was killed during a college speaking event in Utah. A short clip of the discussion circulated widely, showing Omar dismissing Kirk’s legacy; however, the full 25-minute interview revealed more of the exchange, where Omar condemned the assassination.
Omar called it “mortifying” and said her heart broke for Kirk’s children. She denounced political violence, adding that she is a person of deep faith, which teaches mercy and empathy, and “do not dance on someone’s grave…to be able to pray and mourn.” At the same time, she criticized Kirk with explicit language for being championed for civil debate, claiming that he downplayed George Floyd’s killing and opposed Juneteenth, among other issues she claimed he said that she disagreed with.
Mace, in her censure resolution, highlighted Omar’s sharper remarks, which were said in the interview. She quoted Omar’s dismissal of claims that Kirk “just wanted to have a civil debate” as “full of [expletive]” and Omar also said that “there is nothing more [expletive] than to completely pretend that his words and actions have not been recorded.” Mace argued these comments mocked mourners and disrespected Kirk’s death.
