BIRDS OF A FEATHER

McCarthy Refuses to Condemn Boebert’s Islamophobic Comments

“Did any of you raise the question when someone on their side of the aisle said I worked with the Ku Klux Klan, referring to Republicans?”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) refused to condemn Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) for her Islamophobic comments against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) last week, deflecting to an attack on Democrats instead. “Let me be very clear. This party is for anyone and everyone who craves freedom and supports religious liberty,” McCarthy told reporters Friday. “Lauren Boebert ... apologized publicly, she apologized personally.” McCarthy also pointed to an apparent lack of rebuke after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called him the leader of the “KKK caucus” earlier this week. “Did any of you raise the question when someone on their side of the aisle said I worked with the Ku Klux Klan, referring to Republicans?” he asked.

McCarthy’s comments come even after Boebert doubled down on her Omar attacks this week, refusing to apologize in a phone call to Omar. “Even after I put out a public statement to that effect, she said she still wanted a public apology because what I had done wasn’t good enough,” Boebert said, unironically calling for an apology from Omar for her “anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-police rhetoric.”