Squad members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib have chastised GOP Rep. Clay Higgins for ‘disrespecting’ a witness who was giving testimony at the Democrat-led House Oversight Committee.
Raya Salter, founder of the Energy Justice Law and Policy Center, was speaking at a hearing entitled ‘Fueling the Climate Crisis: Examining Big Oil’s Prices, Profits, and Pledges.’
The debate suddenly grew heated with Salter raising her voice as Higgins tried to speak over her.
There followed a tense verbal back-and-forth with the Louisiana Republican but what caught the attention of the Squad members came when Higgins used the word ‘boo’ during one of his responses.
‘My good lady. I am trying to give you the floor boo!’ Rep. Clay Higgins said to witness Raya Salter during a hearing of the House Oversight Committee
‘I’m asking you to search your heart and ask your god what you are doing to the black people in Louisiana,’ Salter said
‘My good lady. I am trying to give you the floor boo!’ Higgins said as Salter was making her point.
The term ‘boo’ is often used between couples as a term of affection, commonly used as a slang term in the black community – not between male congressman and black female witnesses during a committee hearing.
It quickly caught the attention of Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib,
‘Did he just call her “boo” ????’ she asked in a tweet together with video of the interaction.
‘Did he just call her “boo” ????’ Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib asked in a tweet together with video of the interaction
Tlaib received plenty of messages of support on Twitter
Tlaib received plenty of messages of support on Twitter.
‘Yes he did because obviously he doesn’t take this seriously,’ wrote one user.
‘These pathetic white men are so threatened by powerful black women,’ added another.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also took Higgins to task and suggested he mistreats women following the heated altercation.
Ocasio-Cortez apologized to Salter, founder of the Energy Justice Law and Policy Center, after a tense verbal back-and-forth with the Louisiana Republican.
AOC said: ‘I just want you to know that in the four years that I have sat on this committee I have never seen members of Congress, Republican or Democrat, disrespect a witness in the way that I have seen them disrespect you today.
Democratic New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman through his support behind the witness and said Rep. Higgins was a ‘small man’ who was ‘rude’ and ‘demeaning’
‘Frankly, men who treat women like that in public, I fear how they treat them in private.
‘I would hope someone would issue an apology but because I don’t believe he will, I want to apologize to you… the people do not deserve to see that.’
The exchange between Higgins and Salter exploded when he pressed her on her use of petrochemical products.
He said: ‘Everything you have – your clothes, your glasses, the car you got here on, your phone, the table you’re sitting at, the chair, the carpet under your feet – everything you’ve got is petrochemical products what would you do with that? Tell the world.’
Salter fired back, getting progressively louder as Higgins spoke over her: ‘If I had that power in the world, actually I don’t need that power because what I would do is I would ask you sir from Louisiana to search your heart and understand why the EPA knows that toxic petrochemical facilities are some of the most toxic…’
‘I just want you to know that in the four years that I have sat on this committee I have never seen members of Congress, Republican or Democrat, disrespect a witness in the way that I have seen them disrespect you today,’ Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said
Salter said, as she grew more emotional: ‘Toxic polluting facilities in the world and are killing black people throughout Louisiana.’
Higgins shouted: ‘Okay, so what will you do with the products?’
Salter replied: ‘I’m asking you to search your heart and ask your God what you are doing to the black people in Louisiana.’
Higgins shot back: ‘It’s our God.’
The hearing was part of a nearly year-long investigation into whether big oil companies – ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Shell – have misled the public about their efforts to fight climate change.
Higgins then went on to call Salter ‘young lady’ twice.
‘I’m going to give this young lady an opportunity to speak, you may not like it but America needs to hear it,’ he said to the rest of the committee.
‘You’ve got no answer, do you, young lady, about what to do with petrochemical products so I’ll go on. What do you do with ocean vessels? What do you do with the maritime industry?’
Salter replied: ‘Of course we do. We need to move away from petrochemicals we need to shut down the petrochemical facilities in your state and move away from plastic.’
Higgins said: ‘You stand on these grandiose statements, the world won’t run, the world won’t function, you couldn’t be here!’
Salter shot back: ‘The only thing that would not function is the petrochemical industry in your state, sir. If we’re going to talk about the lord I ask that you search your heart and think about repenting.’
‘I’ll search my heart very quickly I love the planet,’ he said.
It comes after AOC slammed fellow Democrat Senator Joe Manchin last year for ‘patronizing’ her by referring to her as a ‘young lady’ as they sparred over his objections to the party’s massive spending bill.
Manchin said: ‘I don’t know that young lady that well, I really don’t. I met her one time between sets here, but that’s it. We’ve not had any conversations.’
In a series of tweets, Ocasio-Cortez fired back at the moderate West Virginia Democrat whose vote is crucial in the evenly divided Senate.
‘In Washington, I usually know my questions of power are getting somewhere when the powerful stop referring to me as “Congresswoman” and start referring to me as “young lady” instead,’ tweeted the left-wing New York Democrat.
‘Imagine if every time someone referred to someone as “young lady” they were ask [sic] responded to by being addressed with their age and gender? They’d be pretty upset if one responded with “the old man,” right? Why this kind of weird, patronizing behavior is so accepted is beyond me!’ she added.