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U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert under fire for “racist and derogatory” comment about Black congressman

Boebert spoke about Rep. Al Green’s “pimp cane” on a cable network last week

Colorado U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert arrives for an election watch party at The Grainhouse in Windsor on Nov. 5, 2024. Boebert was running for Colorado's 4th Congressional District  against Democratic candidate Trisha Calvarese, after Boebert moved from Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.  (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Colorado U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert arrives for an election watch party at The Grainhouse in Windsor on Nov. 5, 2024. Boebert was running for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District against Democratic candidate Trisha Calvarese, after Boebert moved from Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Lauren Penington of Denver Post portrait in Denver on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 10: Denver Post reporter Katie Langford. (Photo By Patrick Traylor/The Denver Post)
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A Democratic congresswoman from Pennsylvania is pushing to censure Colorado U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, alleging Boebert made “racist and derogatory” comments about a Black colleague on television.

Boebert appeared on , a conservative cable outlet, in a segment aired Friday to comment on Texas Rep. Al Green shaking his “pimp cane” at President Donald Trump during his joint address to Congress on March 4, according to the .

“Al Green was given multiple opportunities to stand down, to sit down, to behave, to show decorum — and he did not,” which a spokesperson said was recorded Wednesday. “For him to go and shake his pimp cane at President Trump was absolutely abhorrent.”

The Texas Democrat interrupted Trump’s speech by shouting “You don’t have a mandate!” and waving his walking cane. He was removed from the U.S. House of Representatives chamber during the speech after multiple disruptions from both Democrats and Republicans.

House lawmakers  Green on Thursday.

Pennsylvania Rep. Chrissy Houlahan is now pushing for Boebert to be censured over her comments about Green. Boebert’s office did not comment Tuesday but referenced in which Boebert addressed the censure resolution by mocking Houlahan.

On Tuesday night, Boebert addressed the issue more directly and didn’t back off her comment, : “@RepHoulahan has been getting torn apart by her fellow Democrats for voting to censure Rep. Al Green. Now she’s trying to deflect by introducing a resolution to censure ME because I mocked Green for shaking his PIMP CANE at President Trump.

“I STAND BY WHAT I SAID!”

Houlahan was one of 10 Democrats who crossed party lines and voted to censure Green, according to . Four Republicans didn’t vote, but the other 214 all voted to censure the Texas lawmaker.

“After my discussion on the House floor last week when Speaker (Mike) 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 Rep. Boebert for her racist and derogatory statements about Rep. Al Green,” Houlahan said in a .

The resolution repeats those characterizations and also states that Boebert’s comments were “a breach of proper conduct and decorum of the U.S. House of Representatives.”

A censure is a formal statement of disapproval that is proposed through a resolution. It requires a majority vote to pass, according to federal officials. The punishment is considered second only to expulsion in the House.

Censure does not remove a representative from office but, once the resolution is passed, the censured representative must stand in the well of the House while the speaker reads the resolution aloud “as a form of public rebuke.”

With Republicans holding a majority of seats in the House — 218 to the Democrats’ 214 and three vacant seats, — it’s unlikely the resolution targeted at Boebert will pass.

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