When you're a Republican in the minority and you have no facts to argue or tables to pound, what option is there other than to just aim a stream of hate at your colleagues? This is apparently the maxim Republican Congressmen are relying upon to be absolute racist jackholes to Democratic women of color.
We begin with Representative John Rutherford, representing the great state of Florida. He took it upon himself to refer to Rep. Pramila Jayapal and her colleagues as "your squad of Ayatollah sympathizers."
I was in the same briefing as you, @RepJayapal, and this is absolutely false. You and your squad of Ayatollah sympathizers are spreading propaganda that divides our nation and strengthens our enemies. #Iran https://t.co/iJJfZAtOTp
— Rep. John Rutherford (@RepRutherfordFL) January 8, 2020
Jayapal fired back:
Racist tropes are beneath members of Congress. It shouldn’t have to be said, but here we are.
BTW: You should talk to Sens. Mike Lee & Rand Paul.
Here are some words they used to describe the same briefing: “wrong,” “insulting,” “insane,” “unacceptable,” & “upsetting.” https://t.co/kmSqOMuPwx— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) January 9, 2020
Traveling over to Indiana now, we have Rep. Jim Banks deciding who can and cannot suffer from PTSD. Rep. Omar answered his despicable tweet far more politely than I would have:
Hi Jim,
I survived war as a child and deal with post-traumatic stress disorder—much like many who have served or lived through war.
It’s shameful that you as a member of Congress would erase the PTSD of survivors. pic.twitter.com/QdDBKDSOCS— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 8, 2020
Twitter fired back on this one, because Jim Banks is one of those true jerks who thinks the world centers on white men with guns and never the children traumatized by war:
In one tweet, Jim Banks sums up the entire GOP approach to foreign policy. The only people who matter are US military personnel. Everyone on the receiving end our endless wars can go f* themselves. It's immoral. It's racist. And it's dangerous to our nation's security. For shame. https://t.co/V81zZ6ectQ
— Stephen Miles (@SPMiles42) January 9, 2020
Rep. Banks, You and I spent a few months in Afghanistan.
Rep. Omar grew up in war-torn Somalia before spending years in a Kenyan refugee camp on the Somali border.
It’s not up to us to decide who is and is not “worthy” of PTSD.
Trauma is trauma. A uniform is not required. https://t.co/1IPpKviNrE— Jason Kander (@JasonKander) January 9, 2020
This kind of racism should be banned from the U.S. Congress. No corporation would allow this, after all. Why should we tolerate it from lawmakers? Oh, pardon me, I forgot that Republicans are racists first, patriots second.
