Ilhan Omar Calls Lauren Boebert 'Buffoon' Over Jihad Squad Remarks

Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has hit back at her fellow lawmaker Lauren Boebert (R-CO) for anti-Muslim remarks she made at a campaign event.

Anti-right-wing-extremism website PatriotTakes shared a video it said had been filmed in Boebert's home state of Colorado over the Thanksgiving break.

In it, the avowed gun rights advocate and supporter of former President Donald Trump describes an incident she claimed to have taken place in an elevator in the U.S. Capitol.

Days after Boebert was condemned for calling Omar a member of the "jihad squad" during a House debate about the censure of Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, Boebert repeated the slur in an anecdote about an alleged encounter with the Muslim representative.

"The other night on the House floor was not my first 'jihad squad' moment," she said as she proceeded to describe how she was in an elevator with a staffer when a concerned Capitol police officer started "running hurriedly" towards them.

"There is fret all over his face," she said, adding that he reached in while the doors were shutting.

"I look to my left and there she is. Ilhan Omar. I say, 'well, she doesn't have a backpack, we should be fine,'" Boebert said, to laughter from the audience. "I looked over and said, 'Oh, look, the jihad squad has decided to show up for work today."

In her response to the video, which as of Friday morning had been viewed more than 2.5 million times, Omar denied that the incident ever happened.

"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," Omar tweeted.

The comments by Boebert were condemned by many. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) described them as "deeply offensive and dangerous."

"Yet another blatant display of Islamophobia targeting @IlhanMN," Pressley tweeted, saying the comments "endanger her & the broader Muslim community," and that anyone using such rhetoric like this should be "held to account."

Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., tagged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and called for action to be taken against Boebert.

"We can't ignore this hate and fear mongering," King tweeted, "It just SHOULD NOT be allowed for a member of the U.S. Congress to believe or share such abhorrent ideology."

CNN anchor Jake Tapper described the comments as "pure anti-Muslim bigotry" which were "completely contrary to what the USA is supposed to stand for." Josh Jordan tweeted: "Boebert is using undeniable bigotry to play to the MAGA base and it's horrifying that this is what seems to work."

Brett Meiselas, co-founder of progressive PAC Meidas Touch, tweeted: "Lauren Boebert must be censured and removed from her committee positions."

Boebert sits on the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee on the Budget, the Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples of the United States, and the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.

Newsweek has contacted Boebert and the Republican Party for comment.