Rep. Rashida Tlaib on Thursday said that she and other people in the House Oversight Committee hearing room “gasped” when Rep. Mark Meadows (R, NC) pointed to a black Trump administration official as evidence that Donald Trump is not racist.
““I think if we want to talk about race in this country, that’s not the way to do it,” says Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who accused Republican Rep. Mark Meadows of a “racist act” by using a black woman as a “prop” at the Cohen hearing”
VIDEO:
"I think if we want to talk about race in this country, that's not the way to do it," says Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who accused Republican Rep. Mark Meadows of a "racist act" by using a black woman as a "prop" at the Cohen hearing https://t.co/wFM4X1f1iu pic.twitter.com/7XMnTw4Y9u
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 28, 2019
The Michigan Democrat condemned Meadows’ actions as racist.
“I think all of us, I mean, even folks at home kind of gasped when that actually happened,” Tlaib (D-Mich.) said early Thursday morning on CNN. “I think if we want to talk about race in this country, that was not the way do it.”
During his explosive public testimony in front of the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen made many allegations against the president. He called his former boss a racist, and said that he repeatedly disparaged African Americans.
Republican Oversight Committee members spent most of their time during the hearing trying to discredit Cohen instead of inquiring further into allegations of Trump’s crimes.
Meadows introduced a black Department of Housing and Urban Development staffer, Lynne Patton, to rebut Cohen’s allegations of Trump’s racism. Meadows told Patton to stand up in front of the committee and then he spoke on her behalf.
Meadows was immediately criticized for using Patton as a “token” and lambasted for his ineffective attempt to prove that Trump is not a racist.
After Tlaib accused Meadows of racism, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus fired back. He requested that Tlaib’s comments be stricken from the record. During the ensuing discussion Tlaib clarified that she called the act racist, but not Meadows himself. The North Carolina conservative claimed a record of combating racism and said that he has nephews and nieces who are people of color.
Patton also spoke out Thursday about the exchange saying she never meant to speak on behalf of all black people and that she was happy to defend the president. She also said on her Instagram account that she was not a “prop” and that committee Democrats played the “race card” in their criticisms.
“I said it before, I say it again, the president does not see color, race, creed, religion,” Patton said. “What he sees is success and failure.”
Tlaib said this morning she meant no disrespect toward Patton, but she was going to stand by her earlier comments.
When she was asked if she believes Meadows is a racist, Tlaib said:
“Look, I feel like the act was, and that’s up to the American people to decide whether or not he is.”
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