Amid criticism from both sides, U.S. Rep. Cory Mills issued a four-minute video defending his vote to nix a censure of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.
“This isn’t about just vengeance,” the New Smyrna Beach Republican said. “This is about upholding our Constitution.”
Mills was one of four Republicans who voted to table[1] a resolution censuring Omar and stripping her committee assignments over comments she made about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk. That helped Democrats kill the measure on a 214-213 vote.
Omar, after Kirk’s death, infuriated many on the right.
“There are a lot of people who are out there talking about him (Kirk) just wanting to have a civil debate,” Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, told Zeteo[2] after Kirk’s death. “These people are full of shit, and it’s important for us to call them out while we feel anger and sadness.”
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, filed the censure motion against Omar. The legislation also cited controversial statements by others that Omar reposted on her social media. After Mills cast his deciding vote to table the resolution, Mace alleged that Mills had threatened her over filing the legislation.
“You also threatened me over text last night. Maybe some personal reflection is in order,” Mace posted[3]. “Until then, spare us.” Mills has denied threatening Mace.
After Mace had filed her resolution, Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Cesar of Texas filed a privileged resolution to censure Mills over several personal scandals. After Mills voted to table the Omar censure,
Cesar dropped that effort. Based on that, critics of Mills called for his removal[4] and alleged that he cut a deal with Democrats for his vote.
In Mills’ video, he denied that his vote on Omar had anything to do with the retaliatory resolution targeting him.
“Let me first start out by dispelling some of the rumors that’s been said online. You know, many people are saying that this was a vote-for-vote exchange, and if I voted no, then they would remove my censure as well,” Mills said. “But I’ll remind everyone that this is the exact same retaliatory censure they tried to use during Representative (LaMonica) McIver’s motion to table, where I voted to go ahead and censure McIver.”
Earlier this month, Republicans attempted to censure McIver, a New Jersey Democrat, for laying hands on an Immigration and Customs agent during a tour of a migration facility. Prosecutors dropped charges[5] against McIver this week.
The censure motion against McIver also failed, but Mills supported it. He said in his video message that he did so because McIver’s actions happened during her official capacity as a member of Congress.
“Now, did I know that vote could potentially lead to my own censuring in a retaliatory but nonsensical manner? Of course, I did,” Mills said. “But that’s a different thing than we’re talking about with the protection of free speech.”
U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke, a New York Democrat, filed a resolution[6] to censure Mills that was referred to the House Ethics Committee earlier this month, but which has not been acted upon since.
Mills said the punishment for speech proposed against Omar was simply inappropriate. He considered the issue different from many high-profile instances of individuals being punished by private employers for remarks about Kirk’s death, such as talk show host Jimmy Kimmel’s recent suspension[7].
“People are being fired from their jobs for their anti-Charlie Kirk rhetoric, and they have a right to do so, but employment law and constitutional law are two very different things,” Mills said. “I will state, I can fire someone for what they’re wearing, what they say, how they wear their hair. But our constitution was framed in a way to ensure, not just to protect private citizens and private citizens, but to protect the private citizen from governments.”
He condemned Omar’s comments as “vile,” “abhorrent,” and “evil,” while praising Kirk as “an amazing man.” But he also suggested that punishing someone for offensive remarks went against the open dialogue Kirk sought to generate, including in the Utah campus appearance where he was shot and killed.
“He (Kirk) was a man who didn’t rush anyone away from the microphone, who had that contagious smile and the brilliance that could debate anyone, anywhere, anytime, on any topic,” Mills said. “There (were) times when people would come to the mic, and they would be swearing at him, name-calling him, insulting him, challenging his faith.”
He cited a social media post[8] by Kirk in May 2024 stating, “Hate speech does not exist legally in America. There’s ugly speech. There’s gross speech. There’s evil speech. And ALL of it is protected by the First Amendment. Keep America free.”
Mills also suggested a censure of Omar would not have the desired intent of limiting her influence. He noted a censure[9] of Democrat Adam Schiff led that California Congressman to include the slight in fundraising emails, ultimately fueling Schiff’s election to the U.S. Senate last year.
“If we’re trying to make sure that this type of rhetoric doesn’t get out and that it doesn’t take hold, elevating someone and making them a free speech martyr is not going to achieve that. In fact, it’s going to give her more following, raise her more money and make her voice more heard,” Mills said.
“What we want to do is we want to have consequences, but in a way that the Speaker of the House can use — remove from committees, condemning her language — but not trying to silence someone’s free speech.”
To watch Mills’ video, please click the image below[10]:
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References
- ^ voted to table (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ Zeteo (zeteo.com)
- ^ Mace posted (x.com)
- ^ called for his removal (x.com)
- ^ dropped charges (newjerseymonitor.com)
- ^ resolution (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ suspension (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ social media post (x.com)
- ^ censure (www.congress.gov)
- ^ please click the image below (youtu.be)