AOC slams 'Ku Klux Klan caucus' within the House GOP

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday alleged that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is working with what she described as his "Ku Klux Klan caucus" to enable violent threats against Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and other women of color in Congress.

"People truly don’t understand the scale, intensity, & volume of threats targeting [Omar]," Ocasio-Cortez wrote. "Kevin McCarthy is so desperate to be speaker that he is working with his Ku Klux Klan caucus to look aside & allow violent targeting of woc members of Congress. This cannot be ignored."

"While people toss out clichés like ‘we condemn all forms of racism & bigotry,’ the fact is Islamophobia is far too often tolerated and ignored. Bigotry is not made unacceptable by what one says about it, it’s made acceptable based on whether there are consequences for it or not," the congresswoman continued.

"It’s not just about nasty phone calls and e-mails," she added. "GOP are given freedom to incite without consequence. They don’t have to pay for the security required from their acts- we do. They make money off it. &They are targeting those least likely to be institutionally protected first."

Ocasio-Cortez's comments were in response to a press conference Omar gave Tuesday about death threats she said she has received following high-profile criticism directed at her by Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. 

Omar played a recording of one of the voicemails she says she received, which called her the N-word and referred to her as a "traitor" who will "not live much longer."

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The dispute between Omar and Boebert started when Boebert was secretly filmed telling supporters about a run-in she had with Omar in a Capitol elevator. She said she was getting in the elevator with a staffer when she saw a Capitol police officer running toward them "with fret all over his face" in an effort to stop the elevator door from closing.

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Boebert added: "And I said, ‘Well, she doesn’t have a backpack. We should be fine.'" She also called Omar "the jihad squad."

Boebert later called Omar to apologize for her comments, which ended with Omar hanging up on her.

During the Monday press conference, Omar was joined by Democratic colleagues Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Andre Carson, D-Ind., and Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y. 

The term "Islamophobia" was a recurring topic.

"The truth is that Islamophobia pervades our culture, our politics and even policy decisions," said Omar, who is Muslim and immigrated from Somalia as a child. "Leading politicians in the Republican Party routinely spout hateful rhetoric about a religion that includes a diverse group of more than a billion peaceful worshipers around the world. This includes falsely claiming Muslims want to replace the Constitution and implement Sharia law, portraying Muslims as inherently violent."

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Omar also laid into McCarthy during the press conference, saying, "What I will say is that the silence speaks for itself. If they want to get rid of this kind of toxic, hateful behavior in their conference, they have to take action."

Fox News' Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.