On Wednesday night, the House voted on a measure proposed by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) that would have effectively censured Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) and removed the Democratic Congresswoman from her committee positions. The good news is that despite Mace’s best efforts to further shred America’s tattering democracy, the lower chamber declined the resolution. The bad news? The measure failed by a whisker—in a 214-213 vote.
Mace’s histrionics began on Monday, when she tweeted a planned resolution “to strip [Omar] of her committee assignments after her disgraceful remarks on Charlie Kirk’s assassination.” Omar spoke with Mehdi Hasan on Zeteo the day after Kirk’s death, saying, “all I could think about was his wife, his children, that image is going to live forever.” The congresswoman also said Kirk had a few political opinions she disagreed with, saying: “Charlie was someone who once said guns save lives after a school shooting. Charlie was someone who was willing to debate and downplay the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police.”
“There is nothing more effed up…then to completely pretend that you know, his words and actions have not been recorded and in existence for the last decade or so.” (According to a spokesperson from her team, she’d been “one of the first” to condemn the shooting when it happened.)
But according to Mace—and apparently many MAGA freaks—civil disagreement has no place in our democracy. Omar responded: “Fun fact: Nancy Mace is trying to censure me over comments I never said. Her res does not contain a single quote from me because she couldn’t find any.”
Fun fact: Nancy Mace is trying to censure me over comments I never said.
Her res does not contain a single quote from me because she couldn’t find any.
Unlike her, I have routinely condemned political violence, no matter the political ideology.
The two then became embroiled in a Twitter feud, and Mace went nuclear with her classic anti-immigration rhetoric, tweeting at Omar: “If you celebrate murder, maybe Somalia can take you back.” (Omar was born in Somalia and became a U.S. citizen in 2000.) Omar clapped back, saying, “I know you aren’t well or smart but I hope someone can explain to you that there isn’t a correlation between my committee assignments and deportation.” Mace tweeted: “We would love to see you deported back to Somalia next.” Omar: “Would love to see you get the help you need next. You belong in rehab, not Congress.” (Unfortunately for all of us, Mace is gunning for neither—and is instead running to be South Carolina’s governor as a “Trump in high heels.”)
Between her 2 accounts Nancy Mace has posted/reposted about Ilhan Omar more than 75 times. Often spreading false conspiracy theories and repeatedly calling for her to be censured, removed from office and deported from the country.
During Wednesday’s roll call, four GOP representatives broke with their party (Nebraska’s Mike Flood, Colorado’s Jeff Hurd, California’s Tom McClintock, and Florida’s Cory Mills), and five representatives did not vote (three of whom were Dems). When challenged on his stance, Mills tweeted “The 7 Articles and 27 Amendments of our Constitution are not only to be followed when it serves your purpose…We may not like or agree with what someone says, but that does not mean we should deny their 1A Right.” (Mace has since escalated the conversation on Twitter, accusing him of stifling “free speech” by standing against her, and saying that Mills “threatened” her via text on Wednesday.) And on Thursday, aboard Air Force One, Donald Trump said Omar “should be impeached and it should happen fast.”
So Omar wasn’t ousted this time, but she has been stripped of her committee assignments before: in 2023, when she was accused of criticizing Israel, and was removed from the chamber’s Foreign Affairs committee. Before Wednesday’s vote, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries asked, in a statement: “Is this what civility looks like in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives?”
Following Kirk’s death, Trump said he wants to target left-leaning groups and politicians, demanding a crackdown on the “radical left.” His lackeys have fallen in line, with the DOJ quietly deleting a study showing domestic terrorists are often right-wing, JD Vance encouraging people to “report those who celebrate the shooting to employers,” and Attorney General Pam Bondi vowing to target “hate speech” surrounding the incident. At least 30 people have lost their jobs so far for repeating Kirk’s own words or for criticizing his dismissive, dangerous, and hateful worldview, including Karen Attiah, who was the only Black columnist at the Washington Post.
