The House floor erupted on Thursday resulting in a tense challenge by Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz to the acting chair of the body, Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama.
The exchange was triggered by Rep. Steven Horsford, the Democrat from Nevada, who lost it on Gaetz during a debate over a proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to remove Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives from the U.S. Department of Defense. His tantrum caused an uproar among Republican members of Congress. Listen to the full exchange here:
— thedailybs w/ Snerdley (@thedailybs_Bo) July 14, 2023
Horsford said:
“Just this week, the sponsor of this amendment called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the military a, quote, ‘failed experiment.’ He has called it ‘cancerous.’ Just this week a senator from Alabama stated that it was his opinion that White nationalists are not necessarily racist and refused to denounce white nationalists serving in the military.”
“This amendment does nothing to address the recruitment shortfalls that our services are facing and instead it will only make it more difficult to recruit Americans from diverse backgrounds representing the true makeup of our nation,” Horsford continued.
The congressman screamed, “What are you so afraid of? Why do you keep bringing these divisive issues to the body of this floor!? You are out of order! You are exhausting, Mr. Gaetz!”
Representative Gaetz then made a point of order protesting Horsford’s failure to address the speaker with his comments, leading to the tense exchange with the chair.
Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna later jumped in to defend her fellow Floridian with a FIRE speech about military experiences having absolutely nothing to do with color but rather ones ability to do their job:
To have it about race just goes to show that maybe more members, maybe more members across the aisle need to be serving in our military because that’s not something that we focus on. What we focus on is mission readiness. That’s what it’s all about. I don’t care if you guys think that I’m racist. I’m a minority woman. Maybe I’m the wrong color minority for you, but I’m a minority woman. I support this for those reasons because I’ve lost friends.
The woke diversity game in the military needs to GO. pic.twitter.com/aCo61EX01b
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) July 14, 2023
Regardless of the outburst from Rep. Horsford, and the exchange between Rep. Gaetz and chairman Rogers, Rep. Luna cuts to the heart of the issue and could not have been more concise in highlighting the crux of the debate over Critical Race Theory and it’s place in the military.
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