How flattering!

In a New Year’s Day address to parishioners at the Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) said the following:

Americans elected an authoritarian, an anti-immigrant, racist strongman to the nation’s highest office. Donald Trump and his ‘Make America Great Again’ followers who want to return American back to a time where white men and white privilege were unchallenged, and where minorities and women were in their place. These folks now control the highest office of the land. Donald Trump supporters are older, less educated, less prosperous, and they are dying early. Their life spans are decreasing, and many are dying from alcoholism, drug overdoses, liver disease, or simply a broken heart caused by economic despair. Much like how Hitler took over the Nazi party, Trump has taken over the Republican party. Hitler was accepting of violence toward the achievement of political objectives. Trump encouraged violence against protesters at his rallies, and his messaging about Charlottesville, that there were bad people on both sides, sent a powerful message of approval to the far right racists in America. Americans, particularly black Americans, can’t afford to make that same mistake about the harm that could be done by a man named Hitler or a man named Trump.

This is the one of the most poisonous, fallacious, and uncivil speeches I’ve ever heard and it was delivered by a man who has served in Congress for over ten years. According to his Congressional biography, he was named one of the most effective Democrats in Congress by a University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University study. I won’t bother to rebut his remarks because they are all based on his opinions rather than historical facts or data. I will say it’s sad to see political rhetoric devolve to such a contemptible level.

Let’s just remember that this man is not too smart himself. Some of you may recall his questioning of Adm. Robert Willard during an Armed Services Committee hearing in 2010. He worried that Guam was in danger. “My fear that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize.” Adm. Willard replied, “We dont anticipate that.” Please watch the video below.

In the video below, Johnson criticizes conservative commentators Diamond and Silk, who appeared on Capital Hill to discuss social media censorship, over getting paid for their content on Facebook.

Below is a video of the best of Rep. Hank Johnson produced by Roll Call three years ago.

It’s hard to believe this man is a US Congressman and even harder to believe that his constituents keeping returning him to office.