Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean confronted Speaker Mike Johnson proper off the House ground on Tuesday over their events’ funding standoff hours earlier than the federal government shut down.
Dean could possibly be heard criticizing Johnson a number of instances over well being care and calling him out for not pushing again on President Donald Trump’s sharing of a racist, AI-generated video of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The Pennsylvania Democrat pressed Johnson in regards to the video, which Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, and the speaker responded, “It wasn’t my style.”
“Not your style? It’s disgraceful. It’s racist. You should call it out,” Dean stated.
The video depicted Jeffries sporting a sombrero and a mustache and Schumer talking in a faux voice, arguing for undocumented immigrants to get “free healthcare.” As mariachi music performs within the background, the faux Schumer voice says, “There’s no way to sugar coat it: Nobody likes Democrats anymore.”
In his response, Johnson appeared to press Dean on the small print of the video, when she interrupted him and reiterated her stance.
“Is it racist? You put a sombrero on a Black man who’s the leader of the House. You don’t see that as racist? We need you desperately to lead,” an animated Dean advised the speaker, elevating each of her fingers in emphasis.
Johnson then walked again to his workplace, telling Dean: “I’m working on it. And personally, it’s not my style. I love you and I respect you, OK?”
“That’s why I’m talking to you,” Dean stated in response.
Asked by NCS’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source” in regards to the interplay, Johnson stated, “I’m the speaker of the House, so I represent Republicans and Democrats in that capacity and I always hear complaints and concerns from members and I always stop and hear that, and I did that for Madeleine Dean. I respect her as an individual, we disagree on every policy matter.”
Johnson stated he advised Dean that he “disagreed with her perspective on it.”
“I tried to bring her back to the real issue,” Johnson stated. “The fight tonight is not about social media posts. The fight is about whether they’re going to keep the government open for the American people.”
It’s not the primary time Dean has confronted Johnson, who she is aware of nicely from their time serving collectively on the House Judiciary Committee. Dean publicly confronted Johnson in June after California Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a Trump administration official’s information convention, inflicting an uproar within the Capitol.
Dean advised NCS that she confronted Johnson about his determination to cancel House votes as a authorities funding deadline loomed, in addition to his lack of response to Trump’s AI-generated video of the House and Senate Democratic leaders.
“I said I was disappointed that he sent his members home, and in effect, he is one of the leaders in shutting the government down. And he said that was not the case. He really believed this is going to go through,” recounted Dean.
She added that she had advised Johnson, “‘I know you know better. I know you are a man that wants to do the right thing, but by sending your members home and putting forward dishonest information to the American public, like this is a clean CR, I think you’re doing a disservice,’” and that Johnson vehemently disagreed along with her.
The Pennsylvania Democrat additionally stated that when she pressed Johnson on why he had not criticized Trump’s posting of the video, Johnson requested her if it was racist.
“He asked me, like, rhetorically, ‘Is that really racist?’ It’s really racist, it’s despicable, and he should have called it out,” she stated.
“That’s a problem, that the speaker of the House didn’t see the racism,” added Dean. She additionally advised the speaker that she thought the president was “unwell” after he spoke before top US military brass earlier Tuesday, however famous that Johnson didn’t acknowledge her remark.
“He assured me he is only telling the truth. Everything he says to the American people is the truth. He thinks we’re going to get through this,” Dean advised reporters.
Dean reiterated that Democrats usually are not going to offer sufficient votes to move the GOP-backed cease hole funding invoice.
“If you want Democratic votes, you have to put something in the bills that we actually believe in. We’re not going to give votes – I’m mainly speaking for myself. I’m not going to give a vote over and be complicit on further cuts to Medicaid, to SNAP, to cancer research, pediatric cancer research, Alzheimer’s, nutrition for seniors, for children, for families,” she stated.
“It’s on the Republicans, if that’s your – what you believe in, that’s popular back home, and represents the will of your constituents. Get it done on your own, without it, we’re not going to be complicit.”