For the second time in two months, the Washington Democrat calls out a Republican colleague.
Thank goodness we have so many men in Congress to mansplain our naiveté. Here’s to you, @DarrellIssa. pic.twitter.com/sr7N3sWcsy
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) October 25, 2017
There’s something about Rep. Pramila Jayapal that seems to be triggering the bullying instincts of the powerful male Republican colleagues in the US House of Representatives. Maybe it’s her liberal voice. Or it could be her audacity to speak up in a chamber dominated by white males. (Women make up only 20 percent of the House.)
Less than two months after Alaska Republican Don Young dissed her, it was the turn of Rep. Darrell Issa to disrespect the Indian American congresswoman.
During a discussion on amendments to the Agricultural Guestworker Act, Issa, Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said “the gentle lady from Washington” was proposing an amendment out of “naiveté.”
“Amendments have consequences, and what I find… a little bit frightening about this amendment is the naiveté of the gentle lady from Washington,” Issa said. “I know she is a new member, but if I understand correctly, as we normalize these 2 million guest workers that are already here, she proposes that we ratchet that down to 450,000… total in a short period of time.”
Issa was referring to an amendment Jayapal has proposed to the Guestworker Act, which calls for reducing the number of foreign workers Americans are allowed to hire in the agricultural sector.
Not known for taking an insult or condescending tone from men lying down, Jayapal turned to Twitter to get back at Issa.
In a video posted on Twitter Wednesday afternoon, she accused Issa of “mansplaining” legislation to her. The tweet said: “Thank goodness we have so many men in Congress to mansplain our naiveté. Here’s to you, @DarrellIssa.”
In the video, the freshman Democrat posted Issa’s statement, as well as part of her response:
“If that is naive, as my distinguished colleague from California suggests, then perhaps we should all go back to being naïve and actually fight for our constituents and fight for the rights that make this country great,” she said.
In early September, Young was forced to apologize and withdraw his remarks after he made a personal attack on Jayapal during a House debate.