House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was booed after attempting to shame lawmakers into supporting the House Democrats’ resolution to condemn what they consider “racist” tweets from President Trump, arguing that anything less would be “a shameful abdication” of their oath of office to “protect the American people.”
The speaker railed against Trump during Tuesday’s debate on the House floor, promising that her caucus would continue to respond to the “disrespect” aimed at the fundamental diversity of America. She accused the president of legitimizing and increasing “fear” and “hatred” against people of color and attempted to shame lawmakers who are dismissing the Democrats’ politically fueled resolution.
“It’s so sad because you would think that there would be a given that we would universally in this body just say ‘of course, of course,'” Pelosi remarked. “There is no excuse for any response to those words but a swift and strong, unified condemnation.”
“Every single member of this institution– Democratic and Republican– should join us in condemning the president’s racist tweets,” she continued.
“To do anything less would be a shocking rejection of our values and a shameful abdication of our oath of office to protect the American people,” she added, sparking boos from others in the room.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) chimed in as Pelosi yielded the remainder of her time and asked if she wanted to rephrase her remarks.
“I have cleared my remarks with the parliamentarian before I read them,” Pelosi said flippantly as she walked off.
Fox News Congressional reporter Chad Pergram explained further:
Collins responded to the controversy on Twitter shortly after.
He tweeted:
We expect each other to speak fairly, truthfully and respectfully of our fellow members of Congress and of the president—not because we agree with each other at all times, but because of our great respect for the Americans who elected us to represent them.
According to Pergram, the vote on condemnation for Trump “will be pushed back now because of the Pelosi contretemps and the parliamentary infighting”: