Texas lawmaker seeks to censure Rep. Jasmine Crockett over "Gov. Hot Wheels" comment about Abbott
A Texas lawmaker on Wednesday introduced a resolution to censure Rep. Jasmine Crockett over derogatory remarks she made about Gov. Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair.
Crockett is facing criticism for referring to Abbott as "Gov. Hot Wheels" while speaking at a banquet in Los Angeles last weekend.
The resolution was posted Wednesday morning on Rep. Randy Weber's X account. It references Crockett calling Abbott "Gov. Hot Wheels" as well as a "hot-ass mess."
"You all know we got Gov. Hot Wheels down there. Come on, now," Crockett, a Dallas Democrat, said about Abbott, a Republican, while addressing the Human Rights Campaign event. "And the only thing hot about him is that he is a hot-ass mess, honey."
The resolution said the remarks from Crockett were "discriminatory in nature and are the latest in a continued series of inappropriate comments expressed by Crockett."
Weber posted on X, "She must be censured and held accountable for the venomous rhetoric she spews as a representative of the Democratic party."
The resolution also refers to a meeting that took place on May 16, 2024, where Crockett and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene sent insults back and forth about each other's looks. At that meeting, Greene said, "I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you're reading."
Crockett then shot back, "I'm just curious, if someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody's bleach-blonde bad-built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?" referring to Greene.
Inflammatory rhetoric
Matt Angle is a Democratic political consultant and is the founder and director of the Lone Star Project.
"I don't think it ever helps to call people names and to be personal," said Angle. "And again, I don't think that she meant to be malicious again. She's smart, she thinks quickly, and so my guess is that, I haven't talked to her, but my guess is that if she could take it back, she would. The most disappointing thing to me though is that it really distracted from the most important thing about Greg Abbott and that is that he's a terrible governor."
"A nasty personal attack against one of the most popular governors in Texas history," said Matt Mackowiak with the Potomac Strategy Group.
Conservative political consultant Matt Mackowiak said Crockett's remarks have hurt her politically.
"It's fine to have policy disagreements," said Mackowiak. "It's fine at times to use over-the-top language if you're trying to get people's attention. But these sort of nasty personal attacks against people, particularly when someone's disabled really is beyond the pale. And that's why I think you're going to see pressure continue to be applied I think to this particular member of Congress."
Crockett isn't the first lawmaker to face a censure resolution
Earlier this month, the House voted to censure Rep. Al Green, a Texas Democrat who interrupted President Trump's speech before a joint session of Congress.
Green is the fourth Democrat in two years to face the punishment from a GOP-led House, joining Adam Schiff of California, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Jamaal Bowman of New York.
What is a censure in Congress?
Censure, according to the House's website on the institution's history, is a formal rebuke that "registers the House's deep disapproval of member misconduct that, nevertheless, does not meet the threshold for expulsion."
Generally, a censure is a condemnation of a member's actions, statements or a combination of the two. It requires only a majority of members of the House to pass.
Upon approval by the majority, the censured lawmaker usually is forced to stand in front of the dais in the House chamber while the presiding officer reads the censure resolution aloud. Tlaib was not required to stand in the well.
A censure is viewed as more serious than a "reprimand," which is another resolution House members can bring to the floor to punish fellow members.
In Green's case, the resolution said his interruption of the president "disrupted the proceedings of the joint address and was a breach of proper conduct."
