Rep. Lauren Boebert calls Rep. Ilhan Omar a suicide bomber in campaign speech

On November 20, 2021, at a campaign event in Pueblo, Colorado, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) describes a fabricated story of encountering Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) — a Muslim congresswoman and Somali-born U.S. citizen — in a Capitol elevator, saying: "Well, she doesn't have a backpack, we should be fine." Boebert claims she told Omar: "Oh look, the jihad squad decided to show up for work today." The joke equates Omar, a congresswoman and U.S. citizen, with a suicide bomber based on her religion. A video of the speech is posted on November 25, 2021, triggering national condemnation. Omar calls Boebert a "buffoon" and says on Twitter that the interaction never happened, that Boebert "looks down when she sees me at the Capitol," and that "saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter." Boebert issues an apology on Twitter on November 26, 2021 but refuses to apologize to Omar directly by phone, prompting Omar to hang up. FBI data documents that threats against Muslim members of Congress spike following the exchange. House Democratic leaders call for House Republican leadership Kevin McCarthy to discipline Boebert; McCarthy declines to do so.