Politics

Sparks fly in Cohen Hearing after Tlaib Accuses GOP Colleague of Racist Act

February 27, 2019, 7:24 PM by  Violet Ikonomova


Rep. Rashida Tlaib during Wednesday's House Oversight Committee hearing. (Photo: C-SPAN screenshot)

Donald Trump is a racist, his former lawyer Michael Cohen said during bombshell testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning. If Cohen is to be believed, Trump once pressed Cohen to "name a country run by a black person that wasn't a shit hole," said black people were "too stupid" to vote for him, and, when driving through a struggling neighborhood in Chicago, said only black people could live that way.

And yet, Detroit Rep. Rashida Tlaib is in the spotlight tonight, for calling a Republican colleague's defense of Trump "racist in itself."

Here's what went down:

During the House Oversight Committee hearing, Republican Rep. Mark Meadows had a black Housing and Urban Development employee stand behind him as living proof Trump is no racist. "Lynne Patton says she would not work for a man who is racist,” he said of the employee, who was also a Trump surrogate.

Later, Tlaib, in her remarks, countered that having a black employee does not preclude someone from being a racist, adding that Meadows' defense ultimately amounted to tokenism.

"The fact that someone would actually use a prop, a black woman, in this chamber, in this committee, is alone racist in itself," she said. 

Mayhem ensued. Meadows interrupted, asking Tlaib's statement be struck from the record. Chairman Elijah Cummings offered Tlaib a chance to rephrase. She re-read her statement, then offered this explanation:

"I'm just saying that's what I believe to have happened. As a person of color in this committee, that's how I felt at that moment and I wanted to express that. But I am not calling Mr. Meadows a racist for doing so, I am saying in itself it is a racist act." 

Meadows' defense for himself? "My nieces and nephews are people of color, not many people know that." 

How long will it take the right-wing hordes to let go of this latest sideshow? Let's hope its quicker than January's "impeach the motherfu---er" fiasco. 



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