Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. is facing criticism for introducing a measure to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., over a mistranslation of a speech by the Somali-American congresswoman.
Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross told theGrio, that “It does not help anyone to have a Republican party willing to promote lies about a sitting Congresswoman who represents a large population of Muslims across this country just to stir up their base.”
“This is an election year, and they’re doing it on purpose,” she said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told theGrio, that he supports Omar and that “There is nothing credible about anything that Marjorie Taylor Greene says or does as a member of the United States Congress.”
On Thursday, Greene introduced a measure to censure Omar, alleging that the Democratic congresswoman had made “treasonous statements” and, therefore is a national security threat.
In the resolution, Greene included several “treasonous statements” that were not made by Omar to Somalis at an event in Minneapolis. Instead, Greene quoted a mistranslation of Omar’s speech that was circulating on the internet.
One of the false statements in the resolution read that Omar assured Somalis that “the U.S. Government will only do what Somalians in the U.S. tell them to do. They will do what we want and nothing else. They must follow our orders, and that is how we will safeguard the interest of Somalia.”
Omar took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and fired back at Greene with a post that stated the translation for her speech was “completely off, but I wouldn’t expect more from these propagandists.”
Cross told theGrio that “Republicans have taken wide leaps of faith over things that they have found online that have later been found to be ill-founded or lies and have propagated action based on those lies and have gotten caught up.
“If you are Black, brown, or someone who happens to be Muslim, you are not the America Greene envisioned,” said Cross.
“Greene has gone out of her way to diminish the vital importance of having representation that is of Muslim descent because it is a population that has quite frankly not represented well over the years,” Cross added.
Jeffries told reporters that Greene, “Who is one of the ring leaders of the extreme MAGA Republicans…is not trying to solve a problem for the American people but once again to bring another frivolous censure resolution designed to inflame, castigate and further divide us.”
“Don’t we have enough division in America right now?” he asked. “Don’t we have enough challenges that we should be working together to solve? But all we get from the extreme MAGA Republicans are political stunts and performative politics, and it’s a shame.”
Cross told theGrio, “There is nothing wrong with flying the flag of your country. There is nothing wrong with representing diverse backgrounds. America is built on diversity and we call the U.S. a nation of immigrants.
“Meanwhile, Republicans treat immigrants as though they are dirty, as though they don’t belong here, as though they are lesser than everyone else. It’s very disappointing and very frustrating,” she added.
Cross told theGrio that Greene’s effort is just the latest attempt to unseat Omar in the 2024 elections.
Last year the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel lobbying group, announced that it would spend upwards of $100 million to unseat “Squad” members Omar, and Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Summer Lee, D-Pa., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., over their views on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Bowman previously told theGrio that “nothing AIPAC is going to do is going to stop” him or other members of “the Squad” from serving their constituents.
“Let them spend all the money they want. We got the people, we love the people, we work with the people,” he said.
In an earlier interview, a representative for Pressley told theGrio, “AIPAC has become a right-wing group that spends millions in Republican donor money to silence anyone who advocates for…Palestinians, Israelis, and all people.”
She said she was not surprised that AIPAC would target people of color who advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Cross told theGrio that neither Greene’s nor AIPAC’s efforts will succeed because Omar has a district that is overwhelmingly Muslim and that “her voters believe in the type of legislation that she is working to get passed.”
The Democratic strategist said she believes that since AIPAC or members of the GOP won’t succeed in unseating Omar, “They are trying to silence her or eliminate her process of trying to work effectively.”
“Republicans have been doing this since she got elected,” she said.
The House is expected to vote on Greene’s measure to censure Omar next week since it was introduced as a privileged resolution, which means the House will have to vote on it within two legislative days.
Never miss a beat: Get our daily stories straight to your inbox with theGrio’s newsletter.