Monday on MSNBC’s “Live With Katy Tur,” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) discussed President Donald Trump’s reported “shithole” comments and said Trump’s “dastardly comments” were a part of “his particularly racist behavior.”
When asked about other lawmakers boycotting President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, Jackson Lee said, “I take the State of the Union as a particular message to people of the United States. I am one of those. Let me be clear, my role and posture and seating is all about work on behalf of my constituents. And each and every time I had the opportunity to speak to both presidents and cabinet officers, my constituents have gained—community health clinics, a billion dollars in transportation, education, and fixes for our community. I boycotted the inauguration. I did not believe in this president’s presidency, and I’ve been proven right. And I’m going to join my sisters in the Me Too movement and wear black. I’m also going to look the president in the eye, whether or not he’s going to represent this entire country, and be able to comment on his dastardly comments and his particularly racist behavior which has been a tradition of his since the 1970s.”
She continued, “I have to be there to demand the president his responsibility, to represent DREAMers, to represent seniors, to represent African-Americans and to represent the policies of this nation, which is to be strong allies of the countries of the African continent, a strong ally of the African Union, which I have great respect which was respect and which was quite appalled at his behavior. And I look forward to meeting with the African ambassadors to discuss policies going forward and to apologize to them and to my friends in Haiti, my friends in the Caribbean. I happen to be a granddaughter of those who came from Jamaica as is Colin Powell—his parents are natives of Jamaica, West Indies. So, I will be there to confront the president in a manner that I, too, am American. And I demand of him in the short time that he’s served that he serve all of America, not 30 percent, but all of America. And I believe that Dr. King, if he was here, if the question asked of him about the reckless abandonment that the president has utilized in representing America, I personally think Dr. King would point to Americans—those devastated by hurricanes and the fires and first responders, all over, the fires, those right now digging out looking for those who may have been killed in mudslides, that is the greatness of America. So, I’m there to remind the president of his bad behavior.”
She added, “I believe that the members who are going and not going are making a very important statement. Making it in different ways. And those ways are we will not tolerate the continued abuse of power that Mr. Trump engages in with his wrong words.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN