The 4 Republicans who voted with Democrats in opposition to reprimanding Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) over feedback about Charlie Kirk are getting excoriated by the web proper — with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who prompted the vote on the Omar censure, main the cost in opposition to Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) specifically.
The 4 — Reps. Mike Flood (R-Neb.), Jeff Hurd (Colo.), Tom McClintock (Calif.) and Mills — are defending themselves from the assaults, placing out movies and statements making their case. Flood additionally referred Omar for additional investigation by the Home Ethics Committee.
And Mills confronted Mace instantly.
Mace accused Mills of sending her a “threatening message” Wednesday evening. In response to a replica of the message seen by The Hill, Mills talked about highlighting Mace’s earlier statements criticizing President Trump for Jan. 6 if she goes to place out messages about him.
“You want to put me out for not wanting to penalize someone for 1A? Why don’t we show your words blaming Trump for J6?” Mills stated within the message. “It was nothing to do with you or against you.”
Mace responded: “Not really helping the allegations of you threatening women, are you…”
She was referring to an ex-girlfriend of Mills alleging to police that he threatened to launch nude photographs of her after they broke up — which Mills has denied.
Mills advised Politico earlier this week that “if reminding someone of their own remarks is a threat, well, then that means everyone threatens each other every day to remind someone, ‘Hey, you voted for this, and you did this and you voted for this.’”
Mace had pressured a vote on a decision to formally censure Omar and take away her from her committee assignments, alleging Omar “smeared Charlie Kirk and implied he was to blame for his own murder” and pointing to a video Omar reposted on social media critiquing Kirk’s politics after the assassination.
The decision referenced an interview that Omar gave within the aftermath of Kirk’s assassination, however didn’t quote her personal phrases. As a substitute, it instantly quoted from the re-posted video that stated Kirk, whose suspected killer has been described as left-wing by authorities officers, “was Dr. Frankenstein and his monster shot him through the neck.”
The Home voted to desk the decision 214-213, stopping it from transferring to debate and a vote on the underlying censure, successfully ending Mace’s effort to formally reprimand Omar and take away her from committees.
Mace instantly known as out the 4 Republicans who voted to desk the measure on social media, saying they “sided with Democrats to protect Ilhan Omar.”
A wave of right-wing influencers and commentators adopted, naming the GOP members and posting their pictures whereas calling for main challenges and calling them “cowards” and “RINOs” — racking up tens of hundreds of interactions.
Mills was the last-minute deciding vote that pushed the decision to fail — which got here as he confronted a retaliatory censure introduced by Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) over the disputed allegations of home violence, threatening to launch nude movies of an ex-girlfriend, and making false monetary disclosures.
Axios had reported the day earlier than that Casar was anticipated to withdraw his push to censure Mills if the Omar censure failed, simply as the same retaliatory censure of Mills was deserted after Republicans voted to desk a decision to censure Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), who faces prices ensuing from a conflict with officers at an immigrant detention middle.
Mills posted a video on Friday addressing commentary that his vote in opposition to censuring Omar was a “vote-for-vote exchange” to keep away from a vote on his censure. He famous he voted in favor of advancing the McIver censure, regardless of figuring out it might result in a vote about him.
“The thing about Ilhan Omar’s comments – were they vile? Were they abhorrent? Were they evil? In my opinion, yes,” Mills stated, occurring to reward Kirk whereas saying he believed in “open dialogue” and warning in opposition to making Omar a “free speech martyr.”
In a put up alongside the video, Mills known as for Omar to be investigated for immigration fraud in reference to unproven claims lengthy pushed by conservatives.
Mace fired again on social media by noting Mills had voted in favor of a decision to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) in 2023 over feedback she made in regards to the Oct. 7 assaults in Israel.
“He voted to censure Rashida Tlaib. By his own logic, that’s a direct violation of her First Amendment rights. The hypocrisy is exhausting,” Mace stated.
Flood, in the meantime, hopes to spark an investigation by the Home Ethics Committee. He despatched a letter to the chairman and rating member itemizing 19 statements and incidents regarding Omar that he says collectively “speak to a pattern of behavior that does not reflect creditably on the House,” together with her interview and the video she reposted. Flood stated Omar “must be held accountable” and promised to submit a proper criticism to the panel.
Flood, not like Mills, voted with a handful of different Republicans to desk McIver’s censure.
Omar, for her half, stated that “no one should be going after” the Republicans who voted to desk the measure.
“Four Republicans didn’t join Democrats to protect me, they joined to defend the first amendment and sanity,” Omar stated in a put up on X, including: “This country stands for freedom and right now what people are doing is totally unacceptable.”
McClintock issued a press release and took to the Home flooring to clarify his vote, stressing the significance of the rules of free speech.
Whereas Omar’s feedback had been “vile and contemptible,” McClintock stated within the assertion, he argued that hateful speech remains to be protected speech and stated that the Home has “already gone too far down this road” with formal censure.
“Omar’s comments were not made in the House and even if they were, they broke no House rules,” McClintock stated.
Hurd, who known as Omar’s statements “ghoulish and evil” in a press release, stated he had been listening to each from constituents who supported the vote and those that opposed it.
“I think it’s the right decision. I stand by it,” Hurd advised The Hill.
“It was a tough vote politically, but I came here to do the job that I was sent here to do, and part of that is following the Constitution and and also improving this institution as well, and making sure that we’re not engaging in this back and forth censuring on both sides,” Hurd stated. “Censure should be reserved for the most serious offenses. And I think exercising one’s first amendment rights, however wrong-headedly, is not deserving of censure.”
One of many Home’s most notable free speech advocates, nevertheless, voted with all different Republicans in opposition to tabling the censure: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.).
“I think the debate would have been good,” Massie advised The Hill.
Massie that he was “willing to entertain the thought” of eradicating Omar from her committees as a result of Democrats had kicked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) of their committees “for less than that.”
“In a perfect world, we wouldn’t be doing any of this stuff, but I mean, they do it to us,” Massie stated.
