Another Republican Joins Fight To Keep Anti-Semitic Democrat Ilhan Omar on Foreign Affairs Committee

Ken Buck joins Nancy Mace, Victoria Spartz to support Omar even though she denigrates Republicans as Islamophobic bigots Rep. Ilhan Omar/Getty Images

Republican congressman Ken Buck (Colo.), said he would break with his party and vote for keeping anti-Israel Democrat Ilhan Ommar (Minn.), on House Foreign Affairs Committee.

In his attempt to remove Omar from the committee because of her anti-Semitic remarks, Buck is the third Republican to ignore House Speaker Keven McCarthy (R. Calif.). Omar said in 2012 that “Israel has hypnotized the world.” In 2019, she took aim at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the country’s most prominent pro-Israel lobby, saying, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby.” Buck joins Reps. Nancy Mace and Victoria Spartz (R.S.C. In opposition to the move.

The vote to remove Omar will require a full majority of the House to back the bid, and with three Republicans joining Democrats in opposition, the chances for a successful vote are becoming increasingly slim in the narrowly Republican-controlled chamber. McCarthy will face this early test as he attempts to control a divided Republican Caucus.

NBC News interviewed Buck on Friday to say that he will support Omar to protest efforts to deport members of their committee assignments. Democrats removed Reps. Marjorie Taylor Green and Paul Gosar from their respective committee assignments when they controlled the House. This was due to the tenuous claim that they incited violence. McCarthy said that Omar was one of his top priorities. Omar is a consistently anti-Israeli voice on a committee known for its support for the Jewish state and has been there since the beginning.

“I think that we should not engage in this tit-for-tat,” Buck spoke during the interview. Later, his office was informed. Submitted Axios That Buck “wouldn’t support the removal of Rep. Omar” The committee.

Spartz gave a similar explanation for her opposition last Wednesday.

“Two wrongs do not make a right. Speaker Pelosi took unprecedented actions last Congress to remove Reps. Greene and Gosar from their committees without due process,” Spartz said. “Speaker McCarthy is taking unprecedented actions this Congress to deny some committee assignments to the minority without proper due process again.”

Buck, Mace, Spartz and Spartz support Omar as she struggles to keep her feet on the ground