‘The difference is skin color’: Rep. Katherine Clark says she wasn’t booed like Rep. Cori Bush for condemning white supremacy in Capitol attack

One congresswoman received boos, the other did not.

U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark took to Twitter on Thursday to highlight the sharp disparity in how congressional colleagues reacted to her and Rep. Cori Bush’s condemnation of white supremacy as they called for President Donald Trump’s impeachment for inciting an insurrection.

“On the House floor, my colleague Cori Bush and I both called out the white supremacy at the root of the attack on our democracy,” Clark said, referencing last week’s ransacking of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump loyalists, some of whom lofted Confederate flags and nooses in an attack that left a police officer and four rioters dead. “She was booed. I was not. The difference is skin color.”

On the House floor, my colleague @CoriBush and I both called out the white supremacy at the root of the attack on our democracy. She was booed. I was not. The difference is skin color. https://t.co/N14sqLxvfu — Katherine Clark (@RepKClark) January 14, 2021

On Wednesday, Bush’s remarks in support of impeaching Trump, whom she blasted as a “white supremacist,” were met with several boos from Republicans.

“If we fail to remove a white supremacist president who incited a white supremacist insurrection, it’s communities like Missouri’s first district that suffer the most,” Bush said.

Bush argued that the 117th Congress had a mandate to “legislate in defense of Black lives,” and that the first step in rooting out white supremacy was “impeaching the white supremacist in chief.”

Later, Bush asked her Twitter followers “What does it mean when they boo the Black congresswoman denouncing white supremacy?”

What does it mean when they boo the Black congresswoman denouncing white supremacy? — Cori Bush (@CoriBush) January 13, 2021

Bush’s comments were centered on Trump, who even as a lame duck president has commanded overwhelming support from Republicans. But Clark, who also had harsh words for Trump’s “chaotic and divisive tenure in the White House,” made the case Thursday that she was spared boos during the impeachment debate because, unlike Bush, she is white.

Clark, a Massachusetts Democrat and assistant Speaker of the House, detailed how “hateful rioters stormed the citadel of our democracy waving Confederate flags. This must be a turning point for America; a moment that we reject partisan excuses that allow white supremacy to continue terrorizing America, a moment that we come together and demand accountability as one body, as one America, united in our commitment to democracy and justice.”

Some Republicans, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, laid blame for the Capitol attack on the president. McCarthy added that there is no evidence antifa was involved in the attack, and said Trump should have done more to stop it. He did not support impeachment, however, agreeing with the majority of Republicans who claimed it was a divisive move.

Trump on Tuesday shrugged off responsibility for the attack despite urging supporters for weeks to amass in Washington, D.C. and, last Wednesday, to march on the Capitol and “fight like hell” in an attempt to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s win.

Trump claimed the “real problem” was rhetoric swirling around racial justice protests this summer in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.

Trump and several House Republicans suggested Democrats and celebrities helped inspire unrest in several cities, which inspired fierce law enforcement crackdowns in Portland, Seattle and Washington, D.C. Even as they condemned the Capitol attack, some Republicans made the case that violence and looting surrounding Black Lives Matter protests represented a greater assault on the nation than last week’s direct assault on the nation’s Capitol.

But many Democratic lawmakers highlighted how Trump, during the attack, told Capitol rioters in a Twitter video, “We love you,” and “You’re special.” Many compared the remarks to Trump’s response to far-right demonstrations in Charlottesville in 2017, when he said “you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.” Trump has argued he was referring to people “innocently” protesting the removal of Confederate memorials during the Unite the Right Rally that featured a host of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and far-right militias.

During a September debate with Biden, Trump dodged pressure to condemn white supremacists and told the far-right group the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” before condemning the left and antifa.

Within minutes, leaders of the group expressed excitement both at being mentioned during the debate and the president’s message to their members.

“President Trump told the proud boys to stand by because someone needs to deal with ANTIFA ... well sir! We’re ready!!” one member wrote in a group chat on social media at the time. He followed this message with, “Trump basically said to go [expletive] them up! This makes me so happy.”

The president also caused an uproar this summer when he tweeted a phrase with segregationist origins, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” in response to racial justice protests.

“We faced police dogs while protesting in Ferguson. There were police dog at protests for George (Floyd) and Breonna (Taylor). The president said the ‘most vicious dogs’ awaited protesters standing up for Black lives at the White House,” Bush said recently. “Why weren’t there police dogs at the Capitol last Wednesday?”

We faced police dogs while protesting in Ferguson. There were police dogs at protests for George & Breonna. The President said the "most vicious dogs” awaited protesters standing up for Black lives at the White House.

Why weren't there police dogs at the Capitol last Wednesday? — Cori Bush (@CoriBush) January 12, 2021

The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said this summer that Trump has condemned white supremacy several times. She also said in a news conference last week that the White House condemned the Capitol attack, and Trump in a video from the Oval Office said violence and vandalism were not part of his movement to “make America great again.”

Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts on Thursday emphasized the notable disparity in Clark’s and Bush’s treatment by colleagues and praised Clark for calling it out.

Trump’s unprecedented second impeachment trial could begin on Jan. 20, the same day Biden is inaugurated, according to the Associated Press.