Dems. blast GOP for bowing to “orange Jesus” & uplifting fascism in the name of party loyalty

A fed-up Democratic Congressman slammed his GOP colleagues for caring more about loyalty to Donald Trump than about actual issues of national security.

The impassioned speech from Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) came during the Republican-dominated Homeland Security Committee’s impeachment hearing for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

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Republicans are seeking to impeach Mayorkas because they believe he has not enforced strict enough policy at the U.S.-Mexico border. Should the GOP succeed, it would only be the second time in U.S. history that a Cabinet secretary was impeached. The last one took place in 1876.

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During Tuesday’s hearing, it became clear that Menendez simply couldn’t take it anymore.

“We have held zero – I repeat – zero full committee hearings dedicated to emergency preparedness, cyber threat, infrastructure protection, transportation security, Department of Homeland Security management or information sharing and intelligence efforts,” he said.

“With the global dynamic that we have, we have not lived up to our oversight obligation here on this committee because you all are obsessed with the border, because you bend the knee to the ‘Orange Jesus,’ as you refer to him across the aisle. That’s what this is about. And we have failed, failed, our jurisdiction on this committee, so I’m tired of being lectured.”

He went on to say he has tried to be a “team player” who does not “engage in partisanship.”

“But I’ve had it,” he said. “I’ve listened to a lot of accusations here today. We are here on a sham impeachment hearing because the partisanship of this committee, and enough is enough… The American people are listening. They are and they’re tired of the partisanship of this Republican majority that has failed to get things done.”

Menendez: We have not lived up to our oversight obligation on this committee because you all bend the knee to the orange Jesus pic.twitter.com/kGjacyunOr

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 31, 2024

The committee voted 18-15 along party lines to advance the articles of impeachment to a House vote. If the House does impeach Mayorkas, he will undergo trial in the Senate, where the Democratic majority is unlikely to remove him from office.

At the same committee meeting, out Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) blasted House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for saying he is taking orders from Trump on how to handle the border before emphasizing that “Donald Trump speaks about immigrants with the same rhetoric that Hitler did, claiming that immigrants like me and my family, and I quote, ‘pollute the blood of this country.'”

He blasted Trump’s ideas for border control, which have included alligator moats, electrifying the border fence, bombing Northern Mexico with missiles, as well as shooting migrants in the legs as they cross the border.

Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) tried to interrupt Garcia, who refused to yield. But when Garcia was done, Pfluger asked him to clarify his comments comparing Trump to Hitler – an analogy many have drawn about Trump’s rhetoric on immigrants.

“Well, when you say that you want to pollute, when immigrants are polluting this country, that to me and the blood of this country, that is absolutely reminiscent of things that Adolf Hitler said,” Garcia explained. “And, in fact, his imagery, the way he supports white nationalism, the way he supports white supremacy, and those kinds of comments are completely offensive to immigrants and hopefully to all Americans in this country.”

“So just to be clear, you’re drawing an analogy between Donald Trump, saying he is like Hitler?” Pfluger responded.

“I’m drawing an analogy that the rhetoric that Donald Trump uses is very much the rhetoric and the type of rhetoric that Adolf Hitler used,” Garcia responded.