Newly elected Rep. Cori Bush branded Donald Trump a “white supremacist president” during House debate Wednesday around impeaching him a second time.
“Madam Speaker, St. Louis and I rise in support of the article of impeachment against Donald J. Trump,” she said. “If we fail to remove a white supremacist president who incited a white supremacist insurrection, it’s communities like Missouri’s 1st District that suffer the most.”
She went on: “The 117th Congress must understand that we have a mandate to legislate in defense of Black lives. The first step in that process is to root out white supremacy, starting with impeaching the white supremacist in chief.”
On Monday, House Democrats introduced an article of impeachment accusing Trump of “incitement of an insurrection.” Last Wednesday, Pro-Trump demonstrators descended on the nation’s capital to protest the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s win, which Trump falsely claimed since the election was the result of widespread fraud. At Trump’s urging, a mob of demonstrators turned their attention to the Capitol building, which they breached, sending lawmakers into lockdown and postponing the certification. All told, at least six deaths have been associated with the riot, including those of two Capitol police officers.
Bush’s statement was met with boos from some Republicans in attendance. She spoke to TheWrap late last year about her experiences with some of her Republican colleagues during congressional orientation. She shared an anecdote with journalist Soledad O’Brien during TheWrap’s Power Women Summit 2020 in December, recalling that her peers at orientation thought her name was Breonna Taylor because her face mask bore the name of the Black woman who was killed by police earlier in 2020.
Bush believes the incident during orientation — or “Congress School” as she calls it — would not have happened if Congress reflected “every sect of our society” and its members came from varied backgrounds. As O’Brien pointed out, Bush is a single mother, registered nurse, ordained pastor, activist and community organizer.
Watch the video above.