An effort to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., over comments about conservative leader Charlie Kirk was defeated Wednesday night when four Republicans joined Democrats to quash the measure.
Republican Reps. Mike Flood of Nebraska, Jeff Hurd of Colorado, Tom McClintock of California, and Cory Mills of Florida joined with Democrats in a 214-213 vote to support a motion to kill a measure by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., to censure Omar.
“Tonight, 210 Democrats and 4 Republicans sold out and chose to protect Ilhan Omar, a woman who mocked the cold-blooded assassination of an innocent American husband and father, who has openly supported ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood, and who has repeatedly incited political violence,” Mace wrote on X. “They didn’t stand with Charlie Kirk. They didn’t stand with the millions of Americans mourning his death. They stood with the one who mocked his legacy. They showed us exactly who they are, and we won’t forget.”
Although Mace’s resolution failed, another from Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., remains pending. It would remove Omar from the House Budget and Education committees.
During an interview last week with liberal commentator Mehdi Hasan, Omar expressed “empathy” for Kirk’s wife, Erika, and two young children but also chastised those who “completely pretend” that Kirk just wanted a “civil debate,” pointing to his views on guns, slavery, and George Floyd.
“There are a lot of people who are out there talking about him [Kirk] just wanting to have a civil debate,” Omar said. “These people are full of [expletive], and it’s important for us to call them out while we feel anger and sadness.”
Omar also recounted Kirk’s positions on gun control, police reform and race, and spoke dismissively of his supporters.
“There is nothing more [expletive] up to completely pretend his words and actions have not been recorded and in existence for the last decade or so,” she said.
Mace’s censure resolution also cited a video Omar reposted on X from an anonymous user who called Kirk a “reprehensible human being” who was “spewing racist dog whistles” in his “last, dying words.”
“Thank you to my colleagues for having my back and not furthering lies on the House floor,” Omar wrote on X. “Appreciate them safeguarding First Amendment protections and the usage of the censure. Finally, some sanity in the House.”
This has not been the first time Omar has faced censure in the House. In May 2024, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., introduced a resolution to censure Omar after she called Jewish students at Columbia University “pro-genocide” amid growing encampments protesting Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip. Bacon’s resolution never made it to the House floor for a vote.
The House voted 218-211 in February 2023 to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee after she accused Jewish people and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee of buying political support, saying, “It’s all about the Benjamins, baby.” She was condemned by Republicans and Democrats for her use of an antisemitic trope.
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