Within the past week, Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert has found herself embroiled in controversy. The republican representative first made headlines last week when she was quoted in a cell phone video making Islamophobic remarks about fellow representative, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. 

In the video recorded over Thanksgiving break, Boebert recalls an interaction that she had with Omar in an elevator on Capitol Hill. She remarks to her audience that during this interaction, she saw a Capitol Policeman running towards her. Boebert continues to tell her story,

“I look to my left, and there she is, Ilhan Omar. And I said, well, she doesn’t have a backpack. We should be fine.” she laughed, insinuating that Omar could be a suicide bomber.

Representative Boebert continues to tell her story to the applauding audience, finally noting that once the doors had closed, she turned to Congresswoman Omar saying,

“Oh look, the jihad squad decided to show up for work today.”

Following the release of the video, Omar reported that this interaction had never taken place. Then, Boebert reportedly called her colleague, Omar, however, the call was reported to be “unproductive” between the two, with Omar demanding that Boebert issue a direct public apology. The call ended with Omar hanging up on Boebert. Upset by this, Boebert released a video recounting the experience on the call, alleging that Omar should issue her own apology for her “anti-American, anti-semitic, anti-police rhetoric.”

The following week, yet another video was released of Boebert criticizing Congresswoman Omar and fellow democratic representative, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. Calling them “black-hearted, evil women” Both Omar and Tlaib are Muslim.

Representative Omar called on Republican party members to denounce Boebert, although few have. However, more than 40 house Democrats have announced their support for Omar, suggesting that Boebert should be punished. House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy did not directly address the content of Boebert’s comments in a recent press conference, resulting in Omar calling him a “liar” and “coward” on CNN this Sunday. Omar added that she is “very confident” that Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi will take action against Congresswoman Boebert this upcoming week.

This incident involving the two representatives, (Omar known for being extremely progressive, and Boebert known for being extremely conservative) has raised questions about how party leaders will handle issues like these in the future, especially if the Republicans gain control of the house in the next year’s election.