Congressman Dan Bishop (R-NC) took to the House floor on Thursday to call out colleague Cori Bush (D-MO) for a “grotesquely racist” comment she made about Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL).
The dust-up comes amid a contentious battle primarily among Republicans over who will become the next Speaker of the House, and Donalds was one of the suggested alternatives to Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) — who currently holds a majority among Republicans, but not in the chamber as a whole.
After Donalds received a nomination on Wednesday, he earned 20 votes — while the remaining Republicans voted in McCarthy’s favor. But a short time later, Bush took to Twitter to express her opinion about Donalds’ nomination.
“FWIW, @ByronDonalds is not a historic candidate for Speaker. He is a prop. Despite being Black, he supports a policy agenda intent on upholding and perpetuating white supremacy. His name being in the mix is not progress—it’s pathetic,” she tweeted.
FWIW, @ByronDonalds is not a historic candidate for Speaker. He is a prop. Despite being Black, he supports a policy agenda intent on upholding and perpetuating white supremacy.
His name being in the mix is not progress—it’s pathetic.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) January 4, 2023
Bush later doubled down on her assessment, arguing that because Republican Party leadership had not spent the last two years promoting Donalds, the fact that he was nominated could only mean that the party intended to use him.
Cori Bush expands on her Byron Donalds "prop" comment to @ArthurDelaneyHP:
"My issue is because he was not someone they have been promoting for the last 2 years."
"I want him to understand: They’re only using you."
“I’m glad [Republicans] took offense."https://t.co/nIyii9ViMs
— Akbar Shahid Ahmed (@AkbarSAhmed) January 4, 2023
Donalds responded during an appearance on “Varney & Co,” saying, “If you see a Black man rise, let the man rise even if you disagree with them. I’d be happy to sit down and debate our policies one on one whenever you’d like. As a Black man to a Black woman, I’d never do that to you. It’s a shame you did it to me.”
.@CoriBush, if you see a Black man rise, let the man rise even if you disagree with them.
I’d be happy to sit down and debate our policies one on one whenever you’d like.
As a Black man to a Black woman, I’d never do that to you. It’s a shame you did it to me. pic.twitter.com/ojpEHLhSI4
— Congressman Byron Donalds (@RepDonaldsPress) January 5, 2023
But Bush pushed back again, insisting that Donalds was being used and again accusing him of promoting “white supremacist chaos.”
“Working to overturn the 2020 election & embracing Trump MAGA fascism is not you rising, Byron. You’re being used. It helps you politically at the expense of our community. THAT’S what’s shameful. It’s clear which party promotes white supremacist chaos and which works against it,” she claimed.
By the time Bishop took the House floor on Thursday, he had seen enough — and he laid into Bush over her tweet.
WATCH:
.@RepDanBishop calls out @CoriBush's racist tweet against @ByronDonalds:
"He ain't no prop…This is the tired, old, grotesquely racist rhetoric that we’ve seen far too long!" pic.twitter.com/T2CF3Q1vsI
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 5, 2023
“Last night, I sat within feet of Mr. Donalds as the tweet of another member-elect appeared on the screen. That member-elect wrote, and sent out to America, that Byron Donalds is ‘a prop,’” Bishop began. “I’ve spent a good bit of time with Mr. Donalds, especially lately. He ain’t no prop.”
House Republicans stood to applaud, and Bishop continued after a brief pause — as Congressman Burgess Owens (R-UT) nodded in agreement behind him. “And if he were a prop, he wouldn’t be sitting where he’s sitting. This is the tired, old, grotesquely racist rhetoric that we’ve seen far too long!”