Representative Lauren Boebert has criticized her colleague Representative Chrissy Houlahan, the Pennsylvania Democrat who introduced a motion of censure against the Colorado Republican on Monday.
The move follows Boebert’s comment that House Democrat Al Green had decided to “shake his pimp cane” during President Donald Trump‘s address to a joint session of Congress on March 4, a remark Houlahan described as “racist and derogatory.”
Newsweek contacted Boebert and Houlahan for comment on Wednesday via email outside regular office hours.
Why It Matters
After heckling the president during the joint address of Congress, Green was ejected from the chamber. The Texas Democrat shouted, “You have no mandate,” during the speech and waved a cane with a gold-colored handle in the air. Green was later censured by the House after a 224-198-2 vote. Ten Democrats, including Houlahan, voted with Republicans for the censure motion.
The row demonstrates the bitterness between sections of the congressional Democratic and Republican parties, and it follows a presidential election in which both major party candidates accused their opponent of representing a threat to American democracy.
ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP/GETTY
What To Know
During a March 7 appearance on Real America’s Voice, Boebert said Green had decided to “shake his pimp cane” during Trump’s congressional address. Her comment prompted a resolution of censure from Houlahan, who described Boebert’s remark as “disparaging, derogatory, and racist toward another colleague.”
Boebert hit back during a second Real America’s Voice appearance on Tuesday, commenting: “I stand by it. I have never seen Al Green actually use his cane as a support to walk. I have seen him shake it for years all throughout the Capitol during any meeting that I’ve ever been present with him in, and if that gold-plated cane isn’t a pimp cane, I don’t know what is. But maybe Houlahoo is really the racist here. Are only Blacks pimps? Is that what I’m hearing? Are there no cisgender white pimps in America?”
Boebert also said: “Representative Houla whatever, Houlahan, Houlaha. She has decided that she was getting far too many attacks from her base for voting against the censure of Representative Al Green and decided to attack me for referencing his cane as a ‘pimp cane.'”
What People Are Saying
Speaking to Real America’s Voice on Tuesday, Representative Lauren Boebert said: “Listen, it was a little slight to his cane and his gesture—his cane that was wielded at the president of the United States—and you know what, if she wants to censure me over it, go ahead and try girlfriend. I have the American people who will show up, who will donate and who will reelect me.”
Representative Chrissy Houlahan said in a news release on Monday: “After my discussion on the House floor last week when Speaker Johnson told me he’d have to censure half the members if he actually enforced the rules of the Congress, I decided to help, and tonight introduced a resolution to censure Representative Boebert for her racist and derogatory statements about Representative Al Green.”
What Happens Next
As the Republican Party has a slight majority in the House of Representatives, the chances of the motion to censure Boebert passing are slim.
