Rep. Bush calls Trump a ‘white supremacist president’ on House floor

Newly sworn-in Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) referred to President Trump as the “white supremacist in chief” in her remarks on the House floor on Wednesday as the lower chamber prepares to impeach the president for a second time.

“St. Louis and I rise in support of the article of impeachment against Donald J. Trump,” Bush, born in St. Louis, said at the top of her remarks Wednesday afternoon. “If we fail to remove a white supremacist president, who incited a white supremacist insurrection, it’s communities like Missouri’s 1st District that suffer the most.” 

Bush said the new Congress must understand that it has a “mandate to legislate in defense of black lives” and called rooting out white supremacy “the first step in that process … starting with impeaching the white supremacist in chief.” 

She then yielded back and, moments after, several boos were heard on the House floor, presumably from Republican members. 

Rep. Cori Bush: “If we fail to remove a white supremacist president, who incited a white supremacist insurrection, it’s communities like Missouri’s 1st District that suffer the most.” (Republicans boo) pic.twitter.com/fq2KcB7yPb

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 13, 2021

Bush, a Black Lives Matter activist who rose to prominence last year after pulling off a stunning upset victory over longtime Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) in their state’s Democratic primary, in November became the first Black woman to win election to Congress in Missouri. 

During her campaign and after her election to Congress, Bush has used to platform to speak to address racial injustice.

Most recently, the progressive Democrat discussed the treatment the predominantly white, pro-Trump mob received from law enforcement when they violently stormed the Capitol last week and how different she felt the outcome would have been had the rioters been mostly “Black and brown.”

“Had it been people who look like me, had it been the same amount of people, but had they been black and brown, we wouldn’t have made it up those steps,” she said. “We wouldn’t have made it to be able to get into the door and bust windows and go put our feet up on the desks of Congress members.”

“It was white privilege, and it was the call of our president and it was encouraged by our Republican colleagues,” she also said at the time.

Her criticism of Trump on Wednesday comes as the House is expected to pass an impeachment article charging the president with “willfully inciting violence against the Government of the United States” after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol that left at least five people dead.

Trump had invited his supporters to gather in the nation’s capital and protest Congress’s certification of electoral college votes affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” he tweeted on Dec. 19 as he continued to spread unsubstantiated claims online about the November race.

He also repeated false claims about the race in comments to supporters outside the White House last week and told them to march to the Capitol.

“If you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he said during the speech.

At least six House Republicans are expected to break with Trump and vote with Democrats in impeaching him later on Wednesday.