Donald Trump’s favorite gay lackey Richard Grenell is getting roundly mocked online for a bizarre claim against D.C. statehood.
The House of Representatives passed a bill today to make the nation’s capital a state in order to rectify the fact that D.C. residents aren’t represented in Congress. Democrats supported the measure while Republicans opposed it.
Related: Ric Grenell claims that Trump has told him “multiple times” he hopes to run for president again
In the lead-up to the vote, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell – who helped Donald Trump’s campaign with “LGBTQ outreach” last year – joined the debate online with a novel argument.
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“No state should have all the Federal jobs,” the former acting Director of National Intelligence said. “If DC becomes a state then the federal government must move out of DC and disperse itself among the states.”
No state should have all the Federal jobs.
If DC becomes a state then the federal government must move out of DC and disperse itself among the states.
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) April 21, 2021
As people were quick to point out, hundreds of thousands of federal employees live outside of D.C.
Federal employees outside of Capital area
10 states w/largest # fed employees:California – 172,553⁰
Virginia – 155,682
⁰Maryland – 149,673⁰
Texas – 148,453
⁰Florida – 99,212⁰
Georgia – 80,042⁰
New York – 68,579⁰
Pennsylvania – 68,300⁰
Washington – 60,250
⁰Ohio – 54,483— – – —• Kelley •— – – (@andreagail_k) April 22, 2021
7.5% of Civilian Federal Workers are based in DC Dicky… pic.twitter.com/eHaH7lSvEg
— 🐾Liberal Puppy🐾 (@liberalpuppy) April 22, 2021
You were the director of national intelligence?!? LOL
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) April 22, 2021
You know the Pentagon is in Virginia right? And NIH is in Maryland? The gaslighting knows no bounds.
— Fovillian (@fovillian_419) April 21, 2021
Good news, DC doesn't have all the Federal jobs. Thanks for your support of DC statehood!
— Zachary Pleat (@zpleat) April 22, 2021
I am always impressed by your eagerness to have people laugh at you.
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) April 22, 2021
— Psaki Bombs of Sanity (@mampdx) April 22, 2021
There are around 700,000 people who live in D.C. and they don’t have representation in Congress, despite the fact that Vermont and Wyoming have smaller populations.
D.C. residents don’t even get to determine what happens in their own city. In 1992, the D.C. Council passed the Health Care Benefits Expansion Act, which created domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. For 10 years, Congress blocked the city from using funds for same-sex partner benefits under this law since measures passed in D.C. are subject to Congressional approval.
The issue came to a head earlier this year when D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tried to get help from the National Guard before the protests planned for January 6, which erupted into a riot in the Capitol where conservatives called for the death of elected officials, looted the building, and erected a noose. Five people died that day.
But because D.C. isn’t a state, Bowser had to ask Virginia and Maryland to send in their national guards to help.
The bill to make D.C. a state is expected to be more difficult to pass in the Senate. President Joe Biden has stated his support for it.
