Democrat Rep. Cori Bush took things for a turn during a recent House committee hearing regarding fossil fuels on Wednesday when she accused one of the witnesses of being a racist.

Before things went off the rails, Bush started her opening statement by first going after the oil industry at large before intentionally derailing the topic by accusing an unidentified witness as being a white supremacist.

“If House Republicans actually cared about preventing an energy and economic crisis from happening, they would commit to investing in renewable energy,” she said. “Unfortunately, there are no serious proposals being offered. Rising inflation, caused by Russia’s violent invasion of Ukraine and COVID-19 related supply chain shortages, combined with dangerous corporate greed and reliance on fossil fuels, has left the United States in a tenuous position.”

From there, she further criticized her GOP peers for bringing in “for-profit think tanks and oil-titans” that aim to allegedly maximize profits at the expense of lower income minorities. 

At that point, she pulled out the race-card.

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Racist Big Oil?

According to Bush during the hearing, “One of these so-called ‘energy experts’ is a philosopher who has previously espoused white supremacist views.”

“For instance, in his 2000 college newspaper, he wrote ‘the African and American studies department has 23 classes and many of these classes African culture is presented not as…” Bush said before another member of the committee began to cut her off.

“Mr. Chairman, I ask the gentlelady’s words be taken down,” said Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert. “She just called the witness a white supremacist.”

“No, I referred to the words, not to the person,” Bush replied.

“The gentlelady is referring to the witness statement and referred to him as a white supremacist, I would like a parliamentary decree having the gentlelady’s words taken down,” Boebert requested.

Boebert continued by asking the chairman if it was “appropriate for ranking members to show respect to the witnesses who are here, present in the room today?”

“I would like that sentiment to be expressed and the members reminded to show respect to our witnesses who are here today.”

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What Were The ‘Racist’ Remarks?

Bush was allowed to continue speaking from that point on, “As I was saying, the African and African-American Studies Department, this is the quote, ‘has 23 classes in many of these classes, African culture is presented not as inferior to Western culture, but as one equal footing with it in other departments. The same is done with Latin American, Indian, and American Indian culture’.”

She continued, adding that “When confronted about these views over two decades later, rather than disavow them, he doubled down on this narrative saying, quote, ‘It has nothing to do with skin color. I was arguing that those cultures overall are inferior to Western culture.’ We are not inferior to any culture. Speaking as the descendant of one of those cultures, this is the witness the Republicans invited to discuss issues of energy security.”

Bush was referencing opinions made by Alex Epstein, the president of the Center for Industrial Progress.

What are your thoughts on Bush taking a hearing based on fossil fuels and turning it into a debate regarding race? Let us know in the comments below and across social media.

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