Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) chastised a GOP congressman on Thursday after the House Republican launched into criticism of the Chinese Communist Party during a hearing on the uptick in violence against Asian Americans.
Speaking on CNN, Hogan denounced Rep. Chip Roy’s (R-Texas) comments as “embarrassing” to the party.
“Well that’s the first time I heard those comments, Wolf. But quite frankly it’s shameful and disgusting and disgraceful, and that congressman, I don’t know him, but he should be ashamed of himself for making comments like that in the middle of a crisis like this,” said the governor, who has previously addressed the subject and spoken about experiences that his wife, who is Korean American, has faced.
“I mean, you can have positions against the Chinese Communist Party and maybe our trade polices with China and that’s very legitimate, but to try to say things like that equating this violent racism to — that’s just, that’s just unacceptable, and embarrassing quite frankly,” he added.
The Hill has reached out to Roy’s office for comment.
Hogan’s rebuke came in response to remarks Roy made earlier Thursday during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on discrimination and violence against Asian Americans.
House Democrats scheduled the hearing to address a surge in attacks and racist incidents against Asian Americans in recent months amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Democrats have lambasted former President Trump and others for referring to the virus as the “Chinese virus” and other terms, saying that while the outbreak started in Wuhan, China, such rhetoric fuels anti-Asian sentiment.
Roy questioned what entity gets to decide what “hate speech” is defined as during his remarks.
“We shouldn’t be worried about having a committee of members of Congress policing our rhetoric, because some evildoers go engage in some evil activity as occurred in Atlanta, Ga.,” Roy said.
“Who decides what is hate? Who decides what is the kind of speech that deserves policing?” he added.
Roy’s remarks sparked an emotional response from Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), who accused him of trying to distract from a real threat to the Asian American community.
“Your president, and your party, and your colleagues can talk about issues with any other country that you want, but you don’t have to do it by putting a bullseye on the back of Asian Americans across this country,” Meng said.