"Just because someone has a person of color, a black person working for them does not mean they aren't racist," Rep. Rashida Tlaib told Rep. Mark Meadows. congress Rashida Tlaib berates Mark Meadows for using black woman as ‘a prop’ at hearing

Tempers flared between progressive Rashida Tlaib and conservative Mark Meadows on Wednesday after the freshman Democrat denounced a move by Meadows to use a black administration employee as ‘a prop’ to prove that President Donald Trump is not racist at a hearing.



During the long-anticipated House Oversight Committee hearing with Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer to Trump accused the president of making racist comments about African Americans. In turn, Meadows asked Housing and Urban Development staffer Lynne Patton, who is black, to silently stand before the committee to disprove that Trump is racist.


According to Meadows (R-N.C.), Patton had said there was "no way that she would work for an individual who was racist."

Democratic members condemned the move as tokenizing and failing to disprove anything. But tensions especially flared when Tlaib (D-Mich.) characterized the move as racist.

"Just because someone has a person of color, a black person working for them does not mean they aren't racist," Tlaib said. "And it is insensitive that some would even say — the fact that some would actually use a prop, a black woman in this chamber in this committee is alone racist in itself."

Meadows immediately fought back, speaking over Tlaib to request her comments be stricken from the record.

"Mr. Chairman I ask that her words be taken down!" Meadows said, calling out to Chair Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who is black. "The rules are clear!"

Meadows appealed to Cummings, saying that his record shows a commitment to fighting racism.

"Mr. Chairman, you and I have a personal relationship that's not based on color!" Meadows said.

Cummings asked Tlaib to clarify her comments if she meant to specifically call Meadows a racist, to which she responded that was not her intention.

"You're one of my best friends," Cummings said to Meadows. "And I can see and I feel your pain, and I don't think Ms. Tlaib intended to cause you that, that kind of pain."

Tlaib apologized to Meadows, saying it wasn’t her intention to call him racist.

"As everybody knows in this chamber, I'm pretty direct," Tlaib said. "So if I wanted to say that, I would have."