The U.S. House of Representatives, on Tuesday, passed a motion condemning recent comments by President Donald J. Trump criticizing four democratic congresswomen who are noted for their outspoken statements. The measure passed largely on partisan lines.
Congress members Gary Palmer, R-Hoover, Mike Rogers, R-Saks, Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, and Bradley Byrne, R-Montrose, voted against House Resolution 489 and all released statements explaining their vote.
“President Trump’s comments on Twitter were ill-timed and insensitive, but not racist, as the socialist democrats have hypocritically claimed,” Palmer said. “The hypocrisy is glaringly apparent when you consider that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently tweeted, ‘This administration has established concentration camps on the southern border of the United States for immigrants,’ and that Rep. Ilhan Omar recently tweeted that support for Israel was ‘all about the Benjamins.’”
Roby refused to condone the president’s inflammatory remarks but also will not vote to formally condemn them.
“As elected officials, we owe it to this country and our political discourse to combat unseemly speech consistently and fairly, but democratic leadership in the House has demonstrated they are only willing to call out members of the opposing party by name while sparing their own from the finger-pointing,” Roby said. “While I do not condone the president’s recent comments, I will vote against H. Res. 489 because I refuse to participate in this blatant political gamesmanship. Regardless of party affiliation, we must all treat one another with respect and civility in order to effectively do the important work of the American people.”
In January, Roby did vote for H. Res. 40, condemning and censuring Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, for his comments condoning white nationalism.
In March, Roby voted for passage of H. Res. 183, condemning anti-Semitism as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values and aspirations that define the people of the United States and condemning anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry against minorities as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contrary to the values and aspirations of the United States.
“Today’s vote is a transparent and ineffective attempt to distract from the open warfare inside the Democratic Party,” Byrne said. “The long histories of anti-Semitic and un-American comments from the so called ‘Socialist Squad’ deserve universal condemnation and democrats’ overnight transition from a circular firing squad to a circle of support is the height of hypocrisy.”
Congressman Mike Rogers said he agreed with the president.
“President Trump is exactly right: America is the greatest nation on earth,” Rogers said. “The radical socialists that have taken over the Democratic Party see it differently. Because their ideas are bankrupt and based on hate, all they have is name calling and identity politics. When Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently questioned the actions of four of her socialist female members, she was accused of singling out women of color in Congress. And now President Trump is being accused of racism because he puts America first and stands up for our country. I am proud to stand with President Trump.”
Republicans argue that the title of H. Res. 489, “Condemning President Trump’s racist comments directed at Members of Congress,” violates the House of Representatives rules by engaging personalities toward the president of the United States.
“The founders envisioned the House floor as a place where the people’s business is conducted,” Palmer said. “It was not designed for hypocritical, political grandstanding. The House could conduct no other business if we responded to every unbecoming comment of elected officials on social media. Instead of wasting time on comments made on a Twitter account, we should be focused on addressing the issues that are of greatest concern to Americans, including the crisis at our southern border. This is what we have been elected to do. We have not been elected as the social media police.”
Byrne went even further, offering to personally pay for the four congresswomen to leave the country permanently.
“Since ‘the Squad’ thinks America is such a terrible place, I’ve offered to fly them to the socialist paradise of Venezuela,” Byrne said. “In the meantime, we should stop wasting time on show votes like this and finally take action to secure the border and solve the immigration crisis.”
