PHILADELPHIA (TNS) — I guess Sen. John Fetterman really meant it when he told the New York Post last month that he was not “woke.”
If he were, then maybe Pennsylvania’s junior senator might have stepped up last week after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) made a disparaging comment about Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s (D., Texas) eyelashes on the House floor.
But instead of taking a stand on behalf of a Black woman and a fellow Democrat who had been mocked about her appearance by a leader of the House MAGA crew, Fetterman joked about it. In a post on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, he quipped: “In the past, I’ve described the U.S. House as The Jerry Springer Show. Today, I’m apologizing to The Jerry Springer Show.”
Really, John?
Talk about a wasted opportunity. This could have been a chance for him to behave like a true statesman and speak out against Greene and other pro-Donald Trump extremists. Instead, his response was downright sophom*oric.
The drama started last week during a House Oversight Committee meeting dealing with U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. Crockett asked Greene an innocuous question after she brought up something unrelated. “Please tell me what that has to do with Merrick Garland,” Crockett said. “Do you know what we’re here for?”
Greene responded: “I don’t think you know what we’re here for.” Then Greene added, “I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re reading.”
Chaos followed as Chair James Comer (R., Ky.) tried to regain order. Crockett managed to get a dig in back at Greene, making a reference to “somebody’s bleach-blond, bad-built butch body.”
As Crockett continued, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R., Fla.) told her to “calm down.”
I watched video of the incident multiple times and found it somewhat triggering, given how many times I’ve seen this sort of scenario play out in traditionally white spaces, in which African Americans get shut down for defending themselves. “Don’t tell me to calm down because y’all talk noise and then you can’t take it,” Crockett said, as Luna continued to try and hush her.
Policing Black women’s appearance in the workplace is nothing new (which is why the Crown Act, which guards against hair discrimination, still needs to be passed in our state and on the federal level). Earlier this year, fans criticized Black female college basketball players for playing with false eyelashes.
Listen, people: Times have changed. Long, lush lashes have moved off the red carpet and into everyday life. Get used to it.
Greene’s dig at Crockett was messy. Fetterman could have stayed out of it. Or made a comment on social media befitting someone of his political station. But instead, he posted a silly quip.
I expected so much more from Fetterman, especially after Democrats came to his defense when Republicans and right-wing media made fun of him about his struggles with speech and clinical depression following his stroke. Or when GOPers were talking trash about the freshman senator for his penchant for wearing shorts and baggy sweatshirts. Through it all, the Dems had his back. When one of them was being ridiculed last week, it would have been nice to see him return the favor.
He had a good example in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), who tried to help Crockett both during the hearing and afterward on X. “I stand up to bullies, instead of becoming one. And to the women of Pennsylvania: I’d stand up for you too.”
On CNN’s State of the Union, Fetterman called her characterization of him as a bully “absurd.” And I agree that she took things a little far.
Even though Fetterman disappointed me last week, his time in Washington, D.C., hasn’t been a complete letdown. I like his new proposal about starting a national mental health commission, which would provide policy recommendations for how to help people pay for and access mental health care. Fetterman’s overall favorability rating is at 48%, according to an Inquirer/New York Times/Siena College poll released recently. That’s not bad, considering the times.
But if someone ever came after me talking about my appearance like Greene did with Crockett, I would choose Ocasio-Cortez to be my wing person over Fetterman any day.
She would rush to my defense the way she did with Crockett, warning Greene, “Oh, girl, baby girl, don’t even play. Knowing someone has your back like that goes a long way with folks. Crockett will never forget Ocasio-Cortez’s actions last week, nor should she.
There’s a lesson in that for Fetterman. I hope he gets it.
