Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) demanded consequences on Wednesday after Democratic ranking member Cori Bush (D-MO) accused one Republican witness of using white supremacist rhetoric.
At a House hearing on the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Bush observed that Republicans had invited Center for Industrial Progress President Alex Epstein after he "espoused white supremacist views."
"Mr. Chairman, I demand the gentlelady's words be taken down," Boebert interrupted. "She just called the witness a white supremacist."
"No, I referred to the words, not to the person, not to him, the words," Bush pointed out.
Chairman Pat Fallon (R-TX) ruled the words could not be taken down because they were directed at a witness.
"The chair cannot take down words that are directed toward a witness only to other members," Fallon said.
Bush continued, quoting Epstein: "Rather than disavow them, he doubled down on this narrative saying, 'It has nothing to do with skin color. I was arguing that those cultures overall are inferior to Western culture.'"
"We are not inferior to any culture, speaking as a descendant of one of those cultures," she added.
Bush noted that Boebert and other Republicans had declined to sign a letter condemning white supremacy.
