Dem Rep. Mondaire Jones Sparks Furor By Saying GOP Arguments Against DC Statehood Are “Racist Trash”

Forbes reports:

In a floor speech, Rep. Mondaire Jones, a progressive freshman and a vocal advocate for statehood, took aim at Rep. Jody Hice’s (R-Ga.) claim D.C. has no landfills., as well as Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) contrast between D.C. and a “well-rounded, working class state” like Wyoming.

“I had no idea there were so many syllables in the word ‘white,’” Jones said of Cotton’s argument, accusing Republicans of “racist insinuations that somehow the people of Washington, D.C. are incapable or even unworthy of our democracy” and of being “racist trash.”

Read the full article. After furor from GOP reps, Jones later withdrew his comments, acknowledging that they violated House rules on decorum. Jones and fellow freshman Rep. Richie Torres are the first openly gay black members of Congress. Watch the clip.