The appeal did not ease tensions between the two lawmakers, as Omar said she hung up on Boebert, after she “refused to publicly acknowledge her hurtful and dangerous comments.”
“She doubled down on her rhetoric instead, and I decided to end the call to no avail,” Omar said in a statement.
In social media posts, Boebert said she spoke to Omar and she told her, “I’ve been reflecting on my previous remarks, now a strong Christian woman , value faith deeply, I never want anything I say to offend someone’s religion.” She confirmed Omar had asked for a public apology – and instead, she challenged Omar to issue her own apology for some of the comments she had made in the past.
“I will fearlessly continue to put America first, never sympathizing with terrorists,” Boebert said. “Unfortunately, Ilhan cannot say the same thing and our country is worse off because of it.”
In his statement, Omar repeated his call for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to take action against Boebert.
“I believe in interacting with people with whom we disagree respectfully, but not when that disagreement is rooted in total bigotry and hatred,” Omar said in his statement. . “So far, the Republican leadership has done nothing to condemn and hold its own members accountable for repeated instances of anti-Muslim harassment and hate.”
On Friday, Boebert apologized to “anyone in the Muslim community that I have offended” on Twitter after video emerged of her making anti-Muslim comments last weekend about Omar. In a video posted earlier this month on Facebook, Boebert alludes to Omar being mistaken for a terrorist in an elevator on Capitol Hill. Boebert’s comments were flagged by the Twitter account PatriotTakes, a left-wing group that studies right-wing extremism and is affiliated with the liberal PAC MeidasTouch.
Last week, Omar called on House Speakers Nancy Pelosi and McCarthy to take action against Boebert, who has repeatedly made anti-Muslim remarks and mentioned Omar, one of only two Muslim women in the National association, was a member of the “jihadist team.”
“Normalizing this bigotry endangers not only my life but the lives of all Muslims,” Omar said in another tweet initially responding to Boebert’s comment. “Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress.”
CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski contributed to this report.
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