Texas Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett explained in an interview on CNN why she voted against a House resolution to honor far-right activist and white supremacist Charlie Kirk after his death, sharing her disappointment after only two white colleagues—Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Mike Quigley of Illinois—joined her.
Last week, the Republican-controlled House passed a resolution honoring Kirk's "life and legacy" with 310 votes in favor. 95 Democrats backed the resolution, with 58 opposed. 38 voted “present,” effectively abstaining.
The resolution described Kirk as someone who was “seeking to elevate truth, foster understanding, and strengthen the Republic" and was "a model for young Americans.” But Crockett made clear in an interview with CNN anchor Dana Bash that the resolution ignores Kirk's long record of racism and alignment with white supremacists, to say nothing of other issues.
She said:
"One of the things I do want to point out that's not been laid out that, honestly, hurts my heart is when I saw the "no" votes. There were only two Caucasians. For the most part, the only people who voted "no" were people of color."
"The rhetoric that Charlie Kirk continuously put out there was rhetoric that specifically targeted people of color. And so, it is unfortunate that even our colleagues could not see how harmful his rhetoric was, specifically to [people of color]."
"I can tell you that a month prior to him passing away, he had actually gotten on his podcast—I wasn't aware of this at the time—but he got out there and he was talking negatively about me directly."
"So if there was any way that I was gonna honor somebody who decided that they were just going to negatively talk about me and proclaim that I was somehow involved in the 'great white replacement?' Yeah, I’m not honoring that kind of stuff.
"Especially as a civil rights attorney and understanding how I got to Congress, knowing that there were people that died, people that were willing to die, that worked to make sure that voices like mine could exist in this place."
"So to me, just as we wanted to make sure those Confederate relics were taken down, the idea of a new-age relic being propped up was something I just could not subscribe to, and it is fortunate that more of my colleagues—even on my side of the aisle—could not see the amount of harm that this man was attempting to inflict upon our communities."
You can hear what she said in the video below.
Kirk was a virulent white supremacist.
Kirk once said that the U.S. "made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s," contending that the legislation, which outlawed job discrimination and racial segregation in public places, schools and federally assisted programs, “created a beast” by prioritizing equality of outcomes over equality of opportunity, actions he claimed contributed to higher crime rates.
Kirk also, in remarks attacking former MSNBC host Joy Reid, former First Lady Michelle Obama, the late Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, and Supreme Court Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson—all Black women—said that Black women "do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously."
That's just the tip of the iceberg—but many backed Crockett's remarks.
During the same interview, Crockett also said President Donald Trump—who declared during Kirk's memorial service that he "hates" his political opponents—is drawing inspiration from Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler in consolidating power.
When Bash asked her if she feels she has "a responsibility as an elected official not to raise the temperature, but rather lower the temperature," Crockett said her "responsibility is to be transparent and to be honest, and the reality is that we are living in a time in which this administration and this regime is not interested in making sure that people understand history."
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