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Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) called out white lawmakers for voting in favor of a resolution honoring the late conservative figure Charlie Kirk, who had a history of promoting racist rhetoric.
On Sunday's (September 21) episode of CNN's "State of the Union," Crockett said it "hurts" to know that only two white members of the House voted against the Kirk resolution.
"For the most part, the only people that voted no were people of color," Crockett pointed out.
The House passed the resolution on Friday (September 19) to honor the "life and legacy" of Kirk, the founder of conservative group Turning Point USA, who was shot and killed earlier this month while speaking at Utah Valley University. While 58 Democrats voted against the resolution, only two were white, Reps. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Mike Quigley (D-Ill.).
“The rhetoric that Charlie Kirk continuously put out there was rhetoric that specifically targeted people of color,” Crockett said Sunday. “It is unfortunate that even our colleagues could not see how harmful his rhetoric was, specifically to [people of color].”
The Texas congresswoman noted that about a month before Kirk’s death, the conservative figure had targeted her on his podcast, calling her a “circus act” and alleging she was part of “the great replacement of white people.”
“If there was any way I was gonna honor somebody who decided that they were going to negatively talk about me and proclaim that I was somehow involved in the great white replacement,” she said, “yeah, I’m not honoring that kind of stuff, especially as a civil rights attorney.”
“It’s unfortunate that more of my colleagues — even on my side of the aisle — couldn’t see the amount of harm that this man was attempting to inflict upon our communities," Crockett added.
Kirk, who had a history of making racist remarks, previously said the Civil Rights Act was a “mistake” and claimed Black women lacked the “brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously.” He also promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories and suggested someone should bail out the man who violently attacked Paul Pelosi.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) also opposed the resolution, arguing that honoring Kirk only deepens the political divide.
“We should be clear about who Charlie Kirk was,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. “His rhetoric and beliefs were ignorant and sought to disenfranchise millions of Americans – far from ‘working tirelessly to promote unity’ as asserted by the majority in this resolution.”
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