- House GOP Whip Steve Scalise declined to condemn Boebert's Islamophobic comments about Omar.
- "I don't know if I've seen a time where Democrats have apologized for their statements," said Scalise.
- His comments come as Speaker Pelosi continues to push the GOP to discipline the far-right congresswoman.
House Republican Whip Rep. Steve Scalise repeatedly declined to condemn Rep. Lauren Boebert's Islamophobic comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar, where she insinuated that the Minnesota congresswoman was a suicide bomber.
His comments came after Insider asked the Louisiana congressman at a House GOP press conference whether or not he believed Boebert's comments were wrong.
"Well first of all, if you look at what Lauren Boebert said, she came back and apologized," he said. "And I do think this gets lost too often, because we've had members on both sides that have said things we disagree with."
Scalise went on to claim that Boebert's Islamophobic rhetoric was comparable to statements made by Democrats and said the push to condemn the Colorado congresswoman is hypocritical.
"I don't know if I've seen a time where Democrats have apologized for their statements," Scalise said. "Lauren apologized for what she said, and the fact that on the Democrat side, they want to only go after Republicans, they don't even ask their own members to apologize for things that were said, let alone go after their members. They want it to be a one-sided thing, and I think that hypocrisy is showing."
—The Recount (@therecount) December 8, 2021
"Let them call out what they see [as] wrong as we do," he added. "But when a member apologizes, I think you ought to respect and appreciate that, and ultimately call for a higher standard, but it starts with the members themselves acknowledging that they said something they shouldn't have to come and apologize for it."
His comments echo those made by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week, where he defended the congresswoman and praised her for apologizing.
—Alexander Nazaryan (@alexnazaryan) December 8, 2021
Omar and her fellow progressives do not view Boebert's apology as sincere or efficient, particularly after a phone call between the two congresswomen went off the rails.
Scalise's apparent equivocation on the morality of his caucus member's Islamophobic remarks comes as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continues to call on Republicans to discipline their members.
But for a growing number of House progressives, the onus is now on Pelosi and Democratic leadership to take action.
On Wednesday, Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts spearheaded a resolution to strip Boebert of her committees, while over 400 House staffers issued an open letter urging Democratic leadership to "categorically reject" the "incendiary rhetoric that endangers the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of Muslim staff on both sides of the aisle."
It's unclear whether Pressley's resolution will get a vote before the end of the year.