The House of Representatives rejected a resolution to formally censure Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ihan Omar on Wednesday evening over the “Squad” member for reposting a video disparaging Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk following his assassination.
Lawmakers voted 214 to 213 to table the resolution offered by Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace with four Republicans joining Democrats in blocking the censure effort. The measure would have also booted Omar from her membership on the House Education and Workforce and House Budget Committees.
Republican Reps. Mike Flood of Nebraska, Jeff Hurd of Colorado, and Tom McClintock of California and Cory Mills of Florida sided with Democrats to table the attempt to censure Omar.
Every Democratic lawmaker who voted supported the motion to table the resolution that would have formally punished Omar.
“Ilhan Omar’s comments regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk are vile and contemptible. They deserve the harshest criticism of every man and woman of good will,” McClintock said in a statement posted on X. “But this disgusting and hateful speech is still speech and is protected by our First Amendment. Censure is formal punishment by the House and we have already gone too far down this road. Omar’s comments were not made in the House and even if they were, they broke no House rules.”
“A free society depends on tolerating ALL speech — even hateful speech — confident that the best way to sort good from evil is to put the two side by side and trust the people to know the difference,” McClintock added in his statement. “Congress exists for this purpose. For this reason, I voted to table the censure resolution.”
House Democrats, led by Texas Democratic Rep. Greg Casar, have opted to retaliate by forcing a vote on a resolution to censure Mills. The Florida Republican has come under recent scrutiny for allegations of assault as well as accusations of threatening his ex-girlfriend with explicit videos.
Omar had reposted a video on X which called Kirk a “reprehensible human being,” “stochastic terrorist” and a “transphobe” after the TPUSA founder’s assassination. She also told Zeteo News’ Mehdi Hasan that it is “f-ed up” for people to remember Kirk for the good he did, the day after he was killed.
“These people are full of shit and it’s important for us to call them out,” she told Hasan.
The resolution to censure the far-left congresswoman comes on the heels of calls to lower the temperature following Charlie Kirk’s murder last week. However, Mace and Omar engaged in a public spat on Wednesday, with both congresswomen exchanging blows over social media throughout the day until the resolution vote.
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