'Qanon Caucus' v/s 'Jihad Squad': American politics plumbs new depths amid female firefight

WASHINTON: As political scrapes go, America has seen nothing like this. When the last electoral cycle resulted in the election of a record 144 female lawmakers in the 535 member US legislature, comprising nearly 27 per cent of representatives and senators in Congress, it was thought to be a seminal moment in the nation's history, topped by the election of the country's first female vice-president. Instead, it had degenerated into a vicious catfight underscoring the deep political and racial schism in the country.

The ugly feud, which has been simmering for months now following the election of female lawmakers on the more extreme and radical fringe of both the Republican and Democratic Parties, exploded in the public domain this week when tapes emerged of GOP Congresswoman

Lauren Boebert

, a self-professed gun-loving Christian, suggesting that her Democratic opposite

Ilhan Omar

, a Muslim, is an anti-American terrorist who wants to destroy the United States.

In two video clips, Boebert is seen relating incidents where she runs into Ilhan Omar in Capitol elevators and says she had to reassure others around her that since Omar was not carrying a backpack, and dropping it and running, it was safe -- a thinly disguised reference to suicide bombers. Boebert also refers to

Omar

, who is a Somali-American, as a member of the "

jihad squad

" -- another reference to radical left Democratic lawmakers who are all non-white and are simply referred to as "the squad."

An incensed Omar and her squad colleagues went on the offensive, demanding that the leadership of the House, currently under Democratic control, act against Boebert for indulging in Islamophobia and hate speech. On Monday, Boebert said she telephoned Omar to apologize for her remarks, but was rebuffed after a heated argument when Omar insisted she apologize publicly and she said she would not. Omar, she says, hung up on her.

Amid a volley of who said what and when Omar on Tuesday played a recording of a voice mail she says she received soon after Boebert's call. In the message, a man is heard calling Omar a "f---king traitor" and a "sand ni--er bitch" whose kind is trying to take over America and who deserves to be killed.

"Normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims. Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress," Omar said in a series of tweets and statements following the death threat.

Boebert, a

Trump

loyalist and gun lover, is not backing down. "I will fearlessly continue to put America first, never sympathizing with terrorists. Unfortunately, Ilhan can't say the same thing and our country is worse off for it," she said in a statement that implicitly suggested Omar is a terrorist sympathizer.

Boebert's Twitter profile photo shows an image of (presumably) her hip with a gun in holster and a placard showing the number 45, a reference to loyalty to Trump. "The Left has launched unprecedented attacks on me these past few weeks. They are trying to stop me from being your voice! I won’t back down," Boebert said in one tweet, seeking donations of $ 17.76, a reference to America's independence meant to buttress her claims to patriotism.

As if this scrap was not vicious enough, enter Donald Trump. On Tuesday, the former President issued a statement that read: "Congresswoman Ilhan Omar should apologize for marrying her brother, committing large-scale immigration and election fraud, wishing death to Israel, and for essentially abandoning her former country, which doesn’t even have a government—Exactly what she’d like to see for the United States."

The statement echoed allegations in conspiratorial right-wing circles that Omar married her own brother to gain permanent residency in the US, a charge she has denied.

Omar has found strong support from her fellow squad members. "I stand with my sister @IlhanMN and all those who are outraged by the Islamophobia that

Boebert

,

Taylor Green

and—by his silence @GOPLeader have unleashed & blessed. And America deserves better than a GOP that has lost all sense of right & wrong," Washington Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said.