The House passed a resolution to condemn what Democrats say were President Trump’s “racist” tweets Tuesday afternoon, 240-187.
After hours of debate and fallout from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) controversial remarks on the House floor, lawmakers voted to pass the resolution condemning Trump’s remarks as “racist.”
The resolution “strongly condemns President Donald Trump’s racist comments that have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color” and states that the House “believes that immigrants and their descendants have made America stronger, and that those who take the oath of citizenship are every bit as American as those whose families have lived in the United States for many generations.”
Four Republicans sided with Democrats– Reps. Will Hurd (R-TX), Susan Brooks (R-IN), Fred Upton (R-MI), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). Former Republican Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI) – now an independent – sided with Democrats as well:
Chaos broke out on the House floor earlier after Pelosi described Trump’s remarks as “racist” and attempted to shame members of Congress who would reject the 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 said. “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, triggering boos from lawmakers.
It was determined that the speaker broke the rules, but she ultimately refused to revise her remarks.