Hutchinson calls for civility

He urges GOP to decry expressions of violence, division

Gov. Asa Hutchinson says fellow Republicans who depict violence or exacerbate the nation’s divisions must be called out.

Hutchinson, who serves as chairman of the National Governors Association, was asked in a CNN interview Sunday about House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s response to remarks from Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. CNN anchor Dana Bash said McCarthy, in a statement, did not publicly condemn Boebert for the comments against Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., that drew criticism as Islamophobic.

Hutchinson said McCarthy should publicly disapprove of Boebert’s remarks and the behavior of Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., who, according to The Associated Press, posted an animated video that appeared to show him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

“It has to be dealt with, particularly whenever it is breaching the civility, whenever it is crossing the line in terms of violence or increasing [the] divide in our country,” Hutchinson said during the CNN appearance.

“So one of the things that’s really important to us in the future is increasing the civil debate and civil discourse. And we’ve got to look for ways that we can bring people together and not divide and certainly along racial lines,” he said.

A video posted on Twitter by the account PatriotTakes shows Boebert implying that Omar was mistakenly thought to be a terrorist while at the Capitol.

“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,’” Boebert said, garnering claps from the audience. The video has since received millions of views.

After the video was posted, Boebert went to Twitter and offered an apology “to anyone in the Muslim community I offended.” The tweet did not include a direct apology to Omar.

In a tweet of her own, Omar said Boebert’s story was made up.

“Anti-Muslim bigotry isn’t funny & shouldn’t be normalized,” she wrote on Twitter. “Congress can’t be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation.”

Omar later urged McCarthy and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to take “appropriate action” against Boebert.

“Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter,” she said in a tweet Friday.

Omar issued a statement saying she accepted a call from Boebert on Monday, hoping for a direct apology. But instead, she reported that Boebert “doubled down on her rhetoric.” Omar said she ended the phone call.

“This is not about one hateful statement or one politician; it is about a party that has mainstreamed bigotry and hatred,” she said in the statement. “It is time for Republican Leader McCarthy to actually hold his party accountable.”

Boebert went on Instagram to talk about the phone call, saying in a video that Omar hung up on her.

“Rejecting an apology and hanging up on someone is part of cancel culture 101,” she said in the video.