As Twitchy reported earlier Wednesday during Michael Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Rashida Tlaib essentially called Rep. Mark Meadows a racist for using a black woman as a “prop” to demonstrate that President Trump isn’t a racist.

That “prop,” HUD official Lynne Patton, posted a lengthy piece to her Facebook page revealing that she once considered Cohen a good friend, until they stopped communicating after “it became known in May 2018 that he was defrauding various companies … for millions of dollars by falsely claiming he could leverage his connection with the President to their favor.”

But no one cared about her claims about Cohen; it was her claim that Trump isn’t a racist:

I am honored to be the special guest of @RepMarkMeadows today. I am here in support of @POTUS and in support of the truth, as Michael Cohen (knows that I know) it to be. And the truth is that it doesn’t take you 15 years to call someone a racist. Unless they’re not one. pic.twitter.com/jPxeYTbTYT — ?? Lynne Patton (@LynnePatton) February 27, 2019

Because Orange Man Bad, liberals immediately assumed as Tlaib did that Patton was just a “prop” to have handy if Cohen happened to recall any racist remarks by the president. Here’s Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo:

Meadows brings African American party planner, Lynne Patton, who worked for Trump org (and now runs part of HUD) to refute racism allegations. pic.twitter.com/x22GDtr6H3 — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) February 27, 2019

That brought out Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP legal defense fund:

This is THE most embarrassing, absurd display on race. Ms. Patton, an unsworn witness, elevated from event planner to HUD official, stands as a "validator" for Donald Trump behind a white conservative who explains why the President could not be racist. This is ABSOLUTE madness. https://t.co/IJfFj8Uisn — Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) February 27, 2019

Channelling Ms. Patton, @RepMarkMeadows explains that she (Patton) says she would never work for a racist. Meadows, who is white, says he has talked w/Trump in private & Trump has never said a racist word to him. So how can Cohen say that Trump is racist, he asks? This happened. — Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) February 27, 2019

He now says it's racist for another Representative to suggest that Ms. Patton was brought in as a "prop." — Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) February 27, 2019

Seems kind of racist to us to call a witness a prop just because she’s a conservative black woman. And if her own agency means anything, as she tweeted above, she was honored to be there at the hearing. So it’s not very feminist either to call Patton a prop.

Katie Pavlich spilled some more truth:

You can never win with the left on race. Hire minorities, then elevate them in high positions of government and you’re still a racist. Unreal. https://t.co/wxOo0oR2LY — Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) February 27, 2019

On top of that, hire minorities based on skill set, experience and ability, rather than skin color, and yes, to the left you’re still a racist https://t.co/bvpOf2BoI2 — Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) February 27, 2019

Add to that conservative minorities: we have plenty of posts showing the names liberals assign to minorities who don’t toe the Democrat line. Was it a step up that Tlaib accused Patton of being a prop rather than a token?

Racism, sexism, homophobia and misogyny are the key tenets of the left. Division lives and breathes with them. They keep it alive to convince people that their politics are relevant. Smart people aren’t having it. — jet (@jetraok) February 27, 2019

It’s frustrating. If you support our Pres. it’s assumed that you’re a racist. It seriously angers me. I’ve read comments from democrat friends and relatives on FB that imply this. I live in Ca. so it does no good to respond to their ignorance. Dems will not listen to reason. Sad! — sharon caruso (@leevirginiaanne) February 28, 2019

Hey, after actor Jussie Smollett was so viciously attacked for being black and gay, the conventional wisdom is that the red MAGA hat is the new white Klan hood.

Racist rants by the Left have become equivalent to a Charlie Brown/Lucy conversation: “Wah, Wah, Wah.” With out further corroboration, a leftist charging racism is meaningless. — Bill (@BillinWV) February 27, 2019

The left will look for any reason to call anyone a racist if you fundamentally disagree with them on the issues. They'll try and find something no matter how small, or how ridiculous, and use it to try and give you that label in an attempt to discredit you. — Kevin JN (@Jetsfan1989) February 27, 2019

I quit trying to "win" with the left on race years ago. Now I just talk to sensible people — Dave Seabaugh (@DaveSeabaugh) February 28, 2019

The congresswoman was way out in left field and showed her true racism — stuart (@texson61) February 28, 2019

Race was the left’s magic bullet. Used when all else fails. Well, it doesn’t work any longer. People relate to their own personal experience with people of other races and those experiences are more positive than they have been in generations. — rgEPhoto?? (@rgeasley) February 28, 2019

Or how about this one: Members of a minority group support their object of hate and suddenly those members are race traitors or puppets or props or idiots. There is no winning with true racists. — Magi Nottingham (@magi_nottingham) February 27, 2019

She’s off the plantation, liberals! Ride her down and whip her! — Dead Che (@satcherfield) February 27, 2019

Attempting to use lowered unemployment and incarceration rates as an exoneration is racist too. https://t.co/MaKywjhGdk — RussianEmailBurglar (@alienchemtrails) February 27, 2019

As someone once said, when the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. The race grifters have no other tool in the toolbox. — gregg o (@occhipig) February 27, 2019

No one takes accusations of racism seriously anymore. Racism = disagreeing with the left. It's been so overused and watered down. That's the sad part. — Mandy ☕☃️ (@SpringSteps) February 27, 2019

And we haven’t seen any shakeups among the Democrats running Virginia now, have we?

* * *

Update:

No post on race can be considered complete without Don Lemon’s take:

This CNN chyron presumes Lynn Patton is too stupid to think for herself. pic.twitter.com/WCgDOInto4 — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 28, 2019

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