It looks like the GOP is still reeling over Texas Rep. Al Green’s demonstration against President Donald Trump. And in latest news, one Tennessee republican is catching heat after her recent remarks about the 77-year-old congressman took a racial turn.
Tenn. Rep. Diana Harshbarger had plenty to say about Rep. Green during an interview with the Christian F.A.M.E. Ministries podcast. Harshbarger’s smoke for Green came almost two months after he was physically removed from Capitol chambers for interrupting the president during his first congressional address, as The Root previously.
“I wanted to go over there and grab a few of ‘em,” Harshbarger said of democrats present for Green’s demonstration. But what should’ve been a typical conservative jab at democrats took a turn when the Tenn. native used a term which civil rights experts consider a racial slur, according to the Harvard Law and Policy Review.
“Al Green was over here with his cane, and I’m like ‘Gosh dang it, boy,’” she shockingly said. But if the “boy” comment wasn’t fire enough, Harshbarger fueled her own flames with the suggestion that Green’s cane is fake. “He does not need that cane. That cane is a prop,” she alleged. “I swear it’s not real.”
The representative added, “one of my colleagues said, ‘Unscrew the gold part off of it, and see if there’s a gun in there.’” She continued saying, “I’m, like, ‘I don’t know about that man. He’s just Weird Al.’”
In response to the “jokes” Harshbarger made, Rep. Green came out saying “It’s not a joke.” The Texan continued, “This is not something people of African ancestry— knowing our history— that we can receive with any degree of notion that it is funny. It is not funny to us.”
The congressman continued during the news conference in Houston saying, “I would hope that she would find it in her heart to let people know that she made a mistake.” He even clarified he’s not even looking for an apology. “I never ask people to apologize. I ask people to tell the truth. The truth is these slurs are nothing to joke about.”
It seems Harshbarger listened to at least one part of Green’s response, as she said she has no plans to apologize. In fact, Harshbarger took to X doubling down on her “boy” comment.“The weather is warming up, so naturally, the snowflakes are starting to melt,” she wrote before adding how Green “along with the rest of the Radical Left—is blowing it out of proportion in a desperate attempt to get attention.” The Tenn. politician then added the cherry on top saying, “BOY oh boy, you just can’t catch a break between the FAKE NEWS and young men wielding canes!”
Other political leaders like Ga. Dem. Jerrold Dagen, who called on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to “demand censorship” of Harshbarger. No political actions have been taken against the Tenn. representative.