New York Rep. Elise Stefanik defended her fellow Republican Rep. Martha Roby after a contributor to the Washington Post criticized her for bringing her son to an impeachment vote.
Roby, a congresswoman from Alabama, brought her son to part of the House Judiciary Committee hearings on the articles of impeachment against President Trump on Friday. By Monday night, the Washington Post published an op-ed criticizing her decision to bring her son to the vote.
Diane McWhorter, who wrote Carry Me Home, a book detailing the civil rights movement in Alabama, criticized Roby and claimed her son was the “crystallizing image” of the impeachment so far.
“For this citizen, Southerner and mother, the crystallizing image of the impeachment season was the young son of Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala), perched on her lap as she cast her Judiciary Committee vote Friday in support of President Trump,” McWhorter wrote. “By presenting her son for the cameras, Roby sent two messages: (1) a vote to defend this president is a positive civics lesson for our children, and (2) Trump is a role model we should endorse for our growing boys.”
McWhorter went on to describe some of the scenes she had learned about while writing about Burmingham’s racism in the civil rights era. She claimed Roby was using her son to perpetuate “Trumpism’s next generation” that will fight against the Parkland survivors, Greta Thunberg, and other left-leaning child activists.
“I still have enough faith in Southern decency to believe that Roby — who briefly unendorsed Trump in the wake of the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape — doesn’t really want her son to grow up to be just like him,” McWhorter said. “And yet, she showcases the boy as her impeachment-vote partner, reminding us that this long civil war is a national inheritance. Trumpism’s next generation will carry on the fight — against the Parkland survivors or the teenager the president tweet-baited for earning the cover of Time.”
She added, “Person of the Year Greta Thunberg represents a cause that means life or death for our planet. With Trump, the stakes are merely democracy as we knew it. If we ever really did.”
Stefanik tweeted her condemnation of McWhorter and claimed the Washington Post would never have posted such criticism of a Democratic mother.
“This is an absolutely disgusting and despicable attack on @RepMarthaRoby for bringing her son to work- @washingtonpost should immediately apologize. They would NEVER write this about a Democrat woman. Martha is a hardworking Member & fabulous Mom!” Stefanik tweeted.
This is an absolutely disgusting and despicable attack on @RepMarthaRoby for bringing her son to work- @washingtonpost should immediately apologize. They would NEVER write this about a Democrat woman. Martha is a hardworking Member & fabulous Mom! @hiattf https://t.co/AxD0NXn8Dd
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) December 17, 2019
Stefanik, 35, found the national spotlight during the House Intelligence Committee’s impeachment hearings. President Trump called her a “star” of the Republican Party while many on the Left, including George Conway, said she was “trashy” for her defense of the president.
