Rashida Tlaib Suggests Mark Meadows ‘Racist’ for Inviting ‘Prop’ Lynne Patton

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) accused Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) of a “racist act” in presenting Housing and Urban Development official Lynne Patton, a black woman, as a refutation of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s claim that President Trump is “racist.”

“Just to make a note, Mr. Chairman, just because someone has a person of color, a black people working for them, does not mean they aren’t racist,” Tlaib said in her closing remarks after question Cohen. “And it is even insensitive, some would even say the fact that someone would even use a prop, a black woman in this chamber, in this committee, is alone racist in itself.”

Following Tlaib’s accusation, Meadows called on House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) to remove the freshman congresswoman’s remarks from the record. “I’m sure she didn’t intend to do this,” Meadows said,  adding that “If anyone knows my record as it relates, it should be you, Mr. Chairman.”

The Michigan Democrat repeated her statement when asked by Cummings if she wished to rephrase her remarks.

“As a person of color in this committee, that’s how I felt at this moment,” Tlaib said of Patton’s presence at the hearing. “I am not calling the gentleman, Mr. Meadows, a racist for doing so. I’m saying that in itself, it is a racist act.”

Meadows responded that “There’s nothing more personal to me than my relations,” noting that his niece and nephew are people of color. “Not many people know that,” the North Carolina Republican added.

“And to indicate that I asked someone who is a personal friend of the Trump family… that’s she’s coming in to be a ‘prop,’ it’s racist to suggest that I asked her to come in for that reason,” he added.