December 01, 2021 12:47 PM UTC

Pelosi: If McCarthy Won't Deal With Boebert, Dems Will

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• by: Colorado Pols

As ABC News’ Mariam Khan reports, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not appear to be interested in allowing freshman Colorado GOP Rep. Lauren “Q*Bert” Boebert’s outlandish attacks and retracted apology to fellow Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota to slip down the memory hole–despite fellow Republicans’ increasingly strained refusal to comment:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert’s faith-based attacks on Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who is Muslim, are “indecent” and “dangerous” and suggested it is a publicity ploy.

“To see a member of Congress attacking another member is not a good thing. Right? Under any circumstance. Whether it’s ethnic, generational, gender, or gender ID, whatever. But to see the supposed people of faith denouncing other people’s faith…it’s indecent. It’s indecent,” Pelosi said to House Democrats during a closed-door meeting, according to a source familiar with her remarks.

“So, this is hard because these people are doing it for the publicity. There’s a judgment that has to be made about how we contribute to their fundraising and their publicity on how obnoxious and disgusting they can be. But I do think it has to be clear that there is no place for that,” Pelosi said.

“These people do not respect the House that they serve in. We have to make sure that the public understands that we do,” Pelosi said. [Pols emphasis]

In contrast to the handling of fellow embarrassments Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, the initial response from House Democratic leadership was a call for Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to take unilateral action against Boebert–the theory being that Boebert’s behavior was so bad that attempting to defend it would be self-injurious for fellow Republicans. McCarthy initially seemed to understand the need to take action, having arranged the call that took place Monday between Boebert and Omar that ended in further acrimony after Boebert turned the chance to apologize into another airing of talk-radio grievances. Since that attempt at diplomacy blew up in McCarthy’s face he’s been completely silent on the matter.

Democrats do have the power to take action against Boebert in the same manner as MTG and Gosar. Giving McCarthy a chance to act in this clear case of misconduct is not weakness, but rather a chance for Republicans to demonstrate that decency in the most basic sense has not become a question of partisanship.

If McCarthy does not take it, a full House vote to free up Boebert’s schedule is in order.