Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) launched a heated and hate-filled tirade against Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday.
Coleman, one of the three Democratic congressmembers who stormed the Delaney Hall Detention Center in New Jersey last week, accused the Trump administration of “attempting to legitimize racial discrimination” and charged Kennedy with spreading “the lie that [Trump] cares about me and black people.”
Struggling to deliver her racially charged statements, Coleman repeatedly interrupted Kennedy throughout the exchange, denying him the opportunity to respond.
Her aggressive tone escalated, and at times she was nearly shouting over Kennedy as she continued her barrage of accusations.
Despite the interruptions, RFK Jr. delivered a sharp retort that ended the heated back-and-forth. “My time has expired,” he said, cutting through the tension with a calm but firm statement.
Caught off guard, Coleman stammered in response, “Well, then so has your legitimacy!”
Watch:
Read the exchange below:
Coleman: Mr. Secretary, few things enrage me more than the racist attacks I see this administration carrying out by embarking on an ignorant crusade to rid the government of any programs that are working to improve the lives of black Americans. The administration has moved to ban the words black, race, bias, minority, oppression, prejudice, discrimination, disparity, and racism. Any grant application on federal programs that include these words had them immediately stripped. It is painfully clear to me that this— in doing this, this administration that you work with and work for is attempting to legitimize racial discrimination, and that, sir, is a moral disgrace. It is not woke to improve the health and well being of black people who just are dis— dis— despairingly im— im— impacted by just about every health issue. It should not be controversial to make right a health care system that was not built to help people like me, to take my concerns, my pain, my health very seriously in this country. Black women die from childbirth complications at a higher rate in this country than any other high income country, and last year, where there was overall maternal deaths dropping in this country, well, black women maternal deaths rose. This sickens me, and it tells me that our government has so much more that we must do to focus on improving the lives of black women, not less. Your decision and justifications are damning and troubling, particularly for destructive impacts your choices and benefits will have on poor minority people. So, tell me, sir, how will eliminating minority health offices, how will eliminating initiatives and programs across the department that were created to look at the disparity in healthcare and the need to give greater attention to the fact that black folks experience in health care was very damaging, was very different. How exactly will HHS banning the words that we use to describe ourselves, make us healthier?
Kennedy: Congressman, President Trump’s vision of this country is the same as Martin Luther King’s that we should have a color blind administration. President Trump is deeply concerned about the maternal health crisis and the fact that black mothers are more likely to die in childbirth, 2.6 times, 260%
Coleman: Excuse me, sir, let me claim my time because I don’t need this rhetoric about Donald Trump and the lie that he cares about me and black people. What I want to know is the proposal—
Kennedy: I was answering your question Congresswoman.
Coleman: I’m claiming my time, sir, reclaiming it. I want to know, specifically, how do you intend to address those disparities and to overcome those disparities, as it relates to black health in this country, with the changes that you decided are important or someone has decided for you, I don’t know, with your department, specifically, sir?
Kennedy: I’ve spent a lifetime working on those priorities, and I continue to do so. We have eight divisions, eight programs for Minority Health at HHS. We closed one of those offices. We’re maintaining the other seven. We have 42 programs for maternal health. We’re going to close a couple of them and consolidate them. We’re going to still spend $1.7 billion a year. The commitment is there. We’re just reorganizing.
Coleman: Okay, you know what? The impact of reorganization is something that I shall continually ask you to show me. So, please, let me warn you now—
Kennedy: I welcome those inquiries.
Coleman: And I don’t want rhetoric. I want numbers. The other thing that really troubles me, sir, is LIHEAP. It is a program specifically to address the needs of low income and minority families as it relates to heating and even air conditioning. Why? Why? Why? Why? And what is your rationale for eliminating that program? Specifically? Why? Why? Why?
Kennedy: I’m very committed to LIHEAP. My brother ran a low—
Coleman: I don’t care about your past. I care about your functioning in this department, in this administration, right now, in response to this question!
Kennedy: My time has expired.
Coleman: Well, then So has your legitimacy! I yield back.
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