WASHINGTON — Utah’s three Republican congressmen issued a joint statement Tuesday after voting against H.R. 89 “Condemning President Trump’s racist comments directed at Members of Congress.”
Rob Bishop, Chris Stewart and John Curtis each voted “nay” on H.R. 89, but clarified that they want “inflammatory rhetoric” to stop.
“From claims that ‘Nancy Pelosi is a racist’ to ‘Border agents are Nazis running concentration camps,’ it has gotten out of control. This resolution and these social media wars do nothing to unify our country and only take time and resources away from our true responsibility to get real legislative work done for the people of Utah,” their statement said. (Read the full statement below.)
On Sunday, President Trump tweeted his views on “Progressive Democrat Congresswomen,” suggesting that they “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
The tweets were apparently directed at Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). Of the four, only Omar was born outside of the United States, and she is now a naturalized citizen.
On Monday, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney and Rep. Ben McAdams each issued their own statements condemning Trump’s remarks. (McAdams voted in favor of the resolution.) Sen. Mike Lee remains silent on the issue.
Full statement:
Utah House GOP Members Issue Joint Statement
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, following the vote on H. Res. 489, Condemning President Trump’s racist comments directed at Members of Congress, Rep. Bishop (UT-01), Rep. Stewart (UT-02), and Rep. Curtis (UT-03) issued the following joint statement:
“Freedom of speech is a pillar of our democracy. We are not trying to censor President Trump or House Democrats. But, for the sake of not dividing our nation further, the inflammatory rhetoric needs to stop. From claims that ‘Nancy Pelosi is a racist’ to ‘Border agents are Nazis running concentration camps,’ it has gotten out of control. This resolution and these social media wars do nothing to unify our country and only take time and resources away from our true responsibility to get real legislative work done for the people of Utah.”
