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AOC unloaded on the House GOP over Ilhan’s removal.
AOC unloaded on the House GOP over Ilhan’s removal. Photos: Getty Images

AOC’s scathing speech aimed at GOP moments before it ousted Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee

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House Republicans got an earful from U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday night, Feb. 3. 

The New York lawmaker tore into her Republican colleagues after the House voted along party lines to oust U.S. Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over previous comments she made about Israel.  

U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York said the move to remove Omar was "about consistency.”

“Consistency? There is nothing consistent with the Republican Party's continued attack, except for the racism and incitement of violence against women of color in this body,” Ocasio-Cortez responded. 

In the resolution to condemn Omar, instances from as far back as 2012 were listed. In the over minute-long response from AOC, she compared the GOP’s actions to the Islamophobia following the 9/11 attacks, and especially went in on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. 

AOC added that Republicans have been rewarded for doing much worse than what Omar was accused of. 

"Don't tell me that this is about a condemnation of antisemitic remarks, when you have a member of the Republican caucus who has talked about Jewish space lasers, and also elevated her to some of the highest committee assignments in this body," she said, a reference to Greene. "This is about targeting women of color in the United States of America."

In 2018, the Georgia Representative published false and antisemitic conspiracy theories alleging the "Camp Fire" wildfire in California was carried out by politicians and wealthy Jewish bankers.

The spat between AOC and Greene even went to social media following AOC’s appearance later that evening on CNN, where she discussed the situation further. 

“@RepAOC I have repeatedly asked you to debate me, but you have been a coward and can’t even respond. But you go on @CNN and lie about me,” Greene tweeted. “When are you going to be an adult and actually debate me on policy instead of run your mouth like a teenage girl?”

Ocasio-Cortez went right back at her.

“Hey there! In case you forgot, we sit on the same committee, which debated for the first time this week. I don’t blame you if you forgot. You spent almost no time there. In the few minutes you did show up, you claimed one elementary school got *$5 billion dollars* to teach CRT,” AOC responded. 

Ocasio-Cortez also referenced — without names — Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, who was censured and taken off of committee assignments by Democrats and two Republicans in November 2021 after posting an animated video depicting him attacking President Joe Biden and killing AOC. 

“I had a member of the Republican Caucus threaten my life and you all, and the Republican Caucus, rewarded him with one of the most prestigious committee assignments in this Congress,” she said. 

"I didn't get a single apology when my life was threatened. Thank you," AOC concluded. 

This is not the first time that Omar has faced criticism from members of both parties over statements she made about Israel in 2019 and 2021. House GOP members had threatened to hold her accountable, but because the chamber was run by Democrats, were unable to do so. 

McCarthy’s decision to move forward with removing Omar so early into the new Congress, shows his willingness to play ball with even the farthest of right elected officials. 

"I am an American," Omar, who’s been on the Foreign Affairs committee since first arriving on Capitol Hill in 2019, said in her floor speech.

"An American who was sent here by her constituents to represent them in Congress," she said.

"A refugee who survived the horrors of a civil war. Someone who spent her childhood in a refugee camp. Someone who knows what it means to have a shot at a better life here in the United States. And someone who believes in the American dream and the American possibility and the promise and the ability to participate in the democratic process," Omar continued.

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