Jeffries: Nehls’s comments on Bush ‘shameful’

House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) on Thursday called Rep. Troy Neals (R-Texas) Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) a “noisy” and her husband a “thug.” He criticized his remarks after calling him that.

Jeffries said Neals’ comments “clearly spread racist and inflammatory language.”

“This is disgraceful and, to my knowledge, the person he referred to as a ‘thug’ actually serves in the U.S. military and risked his life just like so many military women and men. ,” Jeffries said at the rally. Press conference.

“We just witnessed the sacrifices made by the men and women of our military,” he added, referring to Sunday’s airstrike in Jordan that killed three American soldiers and injured dozens. “This is a solemn responsibility they bear and it is shameful to casually throw around the word calling people thugs.”

Niels made the comments about Bush and her husband after the Department of Justice announced it was investigating progressive campaign spending excesses on security services.

“She doesn’t even support the police,” Niels said Tuesday. “But what is her idea of ​​paying her to protect her from this and that? Maybe if she wasn’t so loud all the time, she would He might not have been threatened.”

Bush has received threats in the past and paid Courtney Merritt about $60,000, according to a court filing by the Foundation for Accountability and Citizen Trust (FACT). Bush and Merritt began dating before the 2021 election and married in February of last year.

The congressman responded to Nehls’ comments Tuesday, demanding an apology and saying his words were “the type of rhetoric that endangers Black lives.”

The stereotype of the loud and angry black woman dates back to chattel slavery and is often used to degrade black women as hostile, aggressive, and difficult to cooperate with.

The Congressional Black Caucus also backed Nehls on Thursday, calling his comments “unclassy.”

IPlease post to XThe caucus said Nehls’ “attempts to disrespect Black women and colleagues in the House by using dog whistles like ‘thug’ and ‘noisy’ to demean police are inappropriate and unbecoming of a member.” No,” he said.

Michael Lillis contributed to this article.