Rep. Eric Swalwell, back on the House floor Tuesday after a short, ill-fated run for president, detailed a litany of racist comments previously made by President Trump, including recent tweets telling four minority congressmembers to “go back… to which they came.”
While speaking on the House floor Tuesday afternoon, Swalwell later verbalized Trump’s characterization of some African states as “shithole countries.” House Republicans then jeered Swalwell for his use of the vulgarity, calling his comments out of order.
Republican Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia took particular offense to Swalwell’s comments.
“Mr. Collins, is it not racist to say these things? Because you can say that right now,” Swalwell said as Collins called for the East Bay congressmember to suspend his remarks.
Earlier, Collins objected to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi describing Trump as racist, calling it a violation of the House rules on decorum.
A resolution condemning Trump’s remarks about freshman Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley was approved Tuesday night by the House along party lines. Just four Republicans supported the resolution.
There appears to be some bad blood between Collins and Swalwell. They have verbally jousted in the past.
Swalwell and Collins both sit on the House Judiciary Committee. Last February, during testimony from former acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker, Collins argued over Swalwell’s line of questioning.
“Mr. Collins, if you want to sit down there with his lawyers, you can go sit down there. But you’re not his lawyer,” Swalwell said.
Collins then suggested Swalwell was merely using the proceedings to grandstand in advance of running for president.
“And neither are you, Mr. Swalwell,” said Collins, “and if you asked questions that are actually part of this instead of running for president we could get this done.”
ebcitizen.com 