Republicans Blasted for Move on Trump Comments

The House of Representatives came to a standstill for about an hour after Republicans demanded that a top Democrat’s words be struck from the record after the lawmaker commented about former President Donald Trump’s ongoing hush money case.

Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern, ranking member of the House Rules Committee, made the comments during debate on a procedural rule Wednesday. While rebuking the Republican-led bills a part of the ruling vote, McGovern also took a shot at his GOP colleagues who have attended parts of Trump’s trial in Manhattan, where the former president has been accused of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to an adult-film actress.

“No time to work with Democrats, but plenty of times to put on weird, matching cult uniforms and stand behind President Trump with their bright red ties like pathetic props,” McGovern said. “Maybe they want to distract from the fact that their candidate for president has been indicted more times than he’s been elected.”

McGovern’s comments were immediately reprimanded by Congressman Jerry Carl, who was presiding over the House floor at the time. Carl issued a reminder to lawmakers that they are “to refrain from engaging in personalities towards presumed nominees for the office of the president.”

McGovern then retook the stand and asked a series of parliamentary “inquiries” regarding Carl’s reminder. The Democrat also mentioned that Trump is facing 88 felony counts across his four criminal indictments while running for reelection.

“He’s also charged with conspiring to overturn the election,” McGovern continued during his debate time. He’s also charged with stealing classified information, and a jury has already found him liable for rape in a civil court. And yet, in this Republican-controlled House, it’s OK to talk about the trial, but you have to call it a sham.”

Trump was found liable of sexual battery by a jury last spring after facing a defamation suit from former columnist E. Jean Carroll. The judge in the case later clarified in a court filing that the jury’s ruling did not find Trump liable of rape under New York Penal Law, but by a broader definition of the term, the former president had committed rape.

Representative Erin Houchin, who was managing the rule procedures for Republicans, immediately demanded that McGovern’s statements be taken down. After about an hour, Carl, a fellow Republican, ruled that McGovern’s comments were “offensive.”

“Although remarks in debate may include criticism of such candidate’s official position as a candidate, it is a breach of order to refer as the candidate in terms personally offensive, whether by actually accusing or by merely insulting,” Carl said.

Lawmakers React to Carl’s Ruling

Carl’s ruling was rebuked by several Democrats who argued that McGovern had told the truth about Trump’s criminal cases.

“Not only are Republicans scared of the truth, but they are attempting to hide it from the American public too,” Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, of Illinois, said on X, formerly Twitter.

“Striking some words from the Congressional Record doesn’t make them any less true,” wrote Minnesota Senator Tina Smith. “Hope this helps!”

“Everything @RepMcGovern said is objectively true,” Representative Don Beyer said on X.

McGovern responded to Carl’s ruling on social media, writing that he “didn’t say [Trump] was guilty, I just stated the fact that they exist—and for that I was silenced.”

“Apparently, Republicans are allowed to say that Trump’s trial is a sham, and the judge is corrupt and the jury is rigged,” McGovern added in his post to X. “But it’s against the rules for me to even acknowledge that the trials exist.”

Republican Congressman Sean Casten of Illinois, a stanch critic of Trump, also came to McGovern’s defense, posting on X, “I would encourage all my @HouseGOP colleagues to read the decision in the E. Jean Carroll case to better understand (a) the facts and (b) who they are defending.”

Newsweek sent an email on Wednesday afternoon to House Speaker Mike Johnson for comment on the exchange between McGovern and Carl.