Too many Republicans have adopted attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar as something of a hobby, which has taken an unsettling turn since conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed. The Minnesota Democrat spoke with Zeteo’s Mehdi Hasan (a former MSNBC host), and soon after Rep. Nancy Mace accused Omar of making incendiary comments.
The South Carolina Republican (who happens to be trying to generate interest in her gubernatorial campaign) then introduced a censure resolution, which condemned Omar but failed to actually quote the progressive congresswoman. As Roll Call reported, that didn’t work out well.
The House on Wednesday stopped another censure attempt in its tracks, narrowly voting to table a resolution aimed at Rep. Ilhan Omar. Four Republicans helped Democrats pull off the procedural move. Some hope it could be enough to defuse a partisan tit-for-tat building after the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
But as the Roll Call article noted, Mace didn’t just want to censure Omar and strip her of her committee assignments — the GOP lawmaker also suggested the Minnesotan should be deported to Somalia, where she was born.
“Ilhan Omar should be stripped of her seat and her citizenship,” Mace wrote online.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was not pleased.
“Nancy Mace is a complete and total disgrace,” the New York Democrat said in a statement. “Her racist, unhinged and xenophobic comments about Congresswoman Ilhan Omar are beneath the dignity of the Congress. Is this what civility looks like in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives?”
Jeffries added, “We live in an era of intense political violence as we have seen with the recent assassinations of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. Nancy Mace’s crazed rhetoric has put a target on the back of Rep. Omar. Mace must cease and desist her inciteful behavior immediately.”
That the South Carolinian will start exercising restraint appears unlikely, but Mace’s willingness to target Omar’s citizenship brought to mind related comments that Donald Trump made in July.
“Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship,” the president wrote online. He went on to describe the entertainer as “a Threat to Humanity.” Two weeks ago, the Republican returned to the subject in a follow-up missive that read: “As previously mentioned, we are giving serious thought to taking away Rosie O’Donnell’s Citizenship. She is not a Great American and is, in my opinion, incapable of being so!” I realize that this was mindless trash talk from Trump about one of the many celebrities he hates, and that presidents don’t have the legal authority to take Americans’ citizenships away. But between Trump’s rhetoric and Mace’s, there’s an apparent belief in some circles that American citizenship itself is a privilege that Republicans have the ability to take away. That’s bonkers — but as the party becomes increasingly comfortable with authoritarian tactics, it’s worth watching to see who’s next on the GOP’s list.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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