(Hill) Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Monday denounced Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) as an “Islamophobe” after the longtime GOP lawmaker announced that he would not seek reelection in 2020.
Omar, who earlier this year became one of the first Muslim women sworn into Congress, specifically called out controversial statements King made about the Muslim community and Eric Garner during his long tenure in Congress.
“Peter King is an Islamophobe who held McCarthyite hearings targeting American Muslims, said ‘there are too many mosques in this country’ and blamed Eric Garner for his own death at the hands of police,” she said in a tweet. “Good riddance.”
King dismissed Omar’s criticism, telling the Hill that “considering the source, it is a great compliment.”
