Lauren Boebert Apologizes for “Unnecessary Distraction” of Her Bigoted Comments About Ilhan Omar

Footage of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) making a racist comment about her colleague, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) surfaced this week. And Boebert is very sorry. Sort of.

In a video shared on social media by Patriot Takes, a left-wing organization that posts unflattering videos of Trumpy political figures, Boebert tells a crowd the (dubious) story of what she calls a “jihad squad moment.” In this fib constructed to appeal to voters (I guess?), Boebert says she and Omar were sharing an elevator in the Capitol when a police officer ran toward them. Her bigoted punchline goes: “I look to my left, and there she is, Ilhan Omar. I said, ‘Well she doesn’t have a backpack, we should be fine.’ ”

The crowd laughs and cheers.

On Thursday, Omar, the first Somali American elected to Congress, responded—saying the anecdote was fake and calling the Colorado representative a “buffoon.”

“Anti-Muslim bigotry isn’t funny & shouldn’t be normalized,” Omar tweeted. “Congress can’t be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation.”

Fact, this buffoon looks down when she sees me at the Capitol, this whole story is made up. Sad she thinks bigotry gets her clout.

Anti-Muslim bigotry isn’t funny & shouldn’t be normalized. Congress can’t be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation. https://t.co/S1APT7RbqW

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 26, 2021

Democratic leadership addressed the situation in a statement on Friday: “Congresswoman Boebert’s repeated, ongoing and targeted Islamophobic comments and actions against another Member of Congress, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, are both deeply offensive and concerning,” it read. “We call on the Republican Leadership to address this priority with the Congresswoman and to finally take real action to confront racism.”

Boebert’s limp apology came via tweet.

I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep. Omar. I have reached out to her office to speak with her directly. There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without this unnecessary distraction.

— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) November 26, 2021