Shontel Brown
Role at the time: U.S. Representative for Ohio's 11th district, posting on X
Statement summary
Representative Shontel Brown said that calling House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries a monkey and an errand boy is reprehensibly racist language that must be condemned, and that there must be zero tolerance for racism in political discourse.
“This is reprehensibly racist language that must be condemned. Calling Leader Jeffries a “monkey” and an “errand boy”… really? No subtext, no dog whistle, just easily going straight to “monkey”. There must be zero tolerance for racism in our political discourse. Period.”
Mediaite report on Democratic lawmakers' reactions to Rula Jebreal's remarks about Hakeem Jeffries. It quotes Jebreal and reproduces the lawmakers' posts on X.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The case asks whether Rula Jebreal's remarks about Hakeem Jeffries were racist. Brown wrote that calling Jeffries a "monkey" and an "errand boy" is reprehensibly racist language that must be condemned. That is an express judgment that the language was racist, so we labeled it Condemned.