‘Grotesque, racist rhetoric’: Dan Bishop defends Donalds against race-based attacks
Virginia Aabram
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Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) defended Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) against charges from across the aisle that Republican dissidents are using him as a “prop” because he’s black, as a group of conservative Republicans rally around him in opposition to Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
During the seventh vote for speaker that McCarthy (R-CA) once again lost, Bishop nominated Donalds on the floor, defending his ability to lead the House of Representatives. Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) tweeted Wednesday that despite being black, Donalds is “perpetuating white supremacy.”
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Bishop said her remarks were symptoms of “tired, old, grotesque racist rhetoric we’ve seen far too long.”
“I’ve spent a good bit of time with Mr. Donalds, especially lately. He ain’t no prop!” Bishop said, adding, “I know Byron — he’s not a prop. He’s a man of personal conviction.”
https://twitter.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1611053387969368064
Bishop also pointed out, “Yesterday, we could have nominated the first black speaker of the House of Representatives,” to which Democrats started shouting “Hakeem! Hakeem!” in support of their nominee, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who is also black.
Bush’s tweet sparked outrage Wednesday, and she expanded in a statement: “My issue is not with Byron Donalds himself. My issue is not with him being Black. My issue is not with him being Republican. My issue is because he was not someone that they have been promoting for the last two years.”
https://twitter.com/CoriBush/status/1610726873792929792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1610726873792929792%7Ctwgr%5Eb835babdb2a87574a29e4bb0993c05b4247133ae%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffpost.com%2Fentry%2Fcori-bush-byron-donalds-house-speaker_n_63b5e44be4b0cbfd55e609be
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Bishop is one of 20 Republicans holding out against McCarthy but said he’s not in the “Never Kevin” camp that includes Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who say they won’t vote for the California Republican no matter what. McCarthy and his allies spent Wednesday night negotiating with the members holding out for more rules concessions, and finally offered to allow a single member to call for a vote to oust the speaker and put Freedom Caucus members in key committee positions — major demands from his detractors.
The speaker is usually decided on the first vote and hasn’t gone past one ballot since 1923.