--- title: Rep. Tlaib and Rep. Meadows Have a Heated Exchange During the Cohen Hearing | TIME description: Rep. Tlaib said it was a "racist act" to use a black woman as a "prop." canonical: https://time.com/video/8tYbqGOB/ og:title: Rep. Tlaib and Rep. Meadows Have a Heated Exchange During the Cohen Hearing og:description: Rep. Tlaib said it was a "racist act" to use a black woman as a "prop." og:url: https://time.com/video/8tYbqGOB/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/8tYbqGOB/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rep. Tlaib and Rep. Meadows Have a Heated Exchange During the Cohen Hearing twitter:description: Rep. Tlaib said it was a "racist act" to use a black woman as a "prop." twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/8tYbqGOB/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Rep. Tlaib and Rep. Meadows Have a Heated Exchange During the Cohen Hearing > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Rep. Tlaib and Rep. Meadows Have a Heated Exchange During the Cohen Hearing [Watch (HLS stream): Rep. Tlaib and Rep. Meadows Have a Heated Exchange During the Cohen Hearing](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8tYbqGOB.m3u8) (5:55)  _Published 2019-02-27. Rep. Tlaib said it was a "racist act" to use a black woman as a "prop."_ --- Jul 28, 2023 3:04 AM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [U.S. House Votes to Censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib Over Israel Stance](/video/37CHEuag/) ### U.S. House Votes to Censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib Over Israel Stance [Israel Bans Reps. Omar and Tlaib From Entry Over Support for Boycotts](/video/myvPDgqz/) ### Israel Bans Reps. 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What we have here, Mr. Chairman, is criminal conduct in the pursuit of the highest public office by Mr. Cohen and Individual 1. I hope that the gravity of this situation hits everyone in this body. The court report- And in Congress, and across this country. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I yield The rest of my time. Mr. Chairman, I ask that her words, if she's referring o an individual member of this body be taken down and stricken from the record. I'm sure she didn't intended do this but if anyone knows my record as it relates, its should be you Mr. Chairman. Chairman, I would like to- [ SOUND ] Hold on. I want the words read back. No, no. We wanna know exactly what she said. No, excuse me. About a colleague. Excuse me. Would you like to rephrase that statement, Mr. Lee? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I can actually read it from here. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Just to make a note, Mr. chairman, that just because someone has a person of color, a black person working for them, does not mean they are racist. And it is insensitive that someone would even say racist, they say it as racism itself. And to use a black woman as a prop to prove it otherwise. And I can submit this for the record If a colleague is thinking that that's what I'm saying, I'm just saying that's what I believe to have happened. And as a person of color in this committee, that's how I felt at that moment and I wanted to express that. But I'm not calling the gentleman Mr. Meadows a racist for doing so. I'm saying that, in itself, it is a racist act. Well, I hope not, Mr. Chairman, cuz I need to be clear on this particular- Well- Mr. Chairman- Mr. Meadows, wait a minute. I've defended you with false accusations. Mr. Meadows! Yes, sir, you are. Thank you, I will clear this up. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Now Tlaib, I wanna make sure I understand, you were not intending to call Mr Meadows a racist, is that right? No, Mr Chairman, I do not call Mr Meadows a racist. I am trying- Now wait a minute, hold on. As a person of color, Mr Chairman, just To express myself and how I felt at that moment. And so just for the record, that's what was my intention. All right, [ INAUDIBLE ]. Mr. Meadows, Mr. Meadows. Mr. Chairman, there's nothing more personal to me than my relationship, my nieces and nephews are people of color. Not many people know that. You know that Mr. Chairman. And to indicate that I asked someone who is a personal friend of the Trump family, who has worked for him, who knows this particular individual, that she's coming in to be a prop. It's racist to suggest that I asked her to come in here for that reason. Mr. President, the President's own person, she's a family member, she loves this family, she came in because she felt like the president of the United States was getting falsely accused and Mr. Chairman, you and I have a personal relationship that's not based on color. And to even go down this direction is wrong Mr. Chairman. First of all I want to thank the gentlemen for what you have stated. If there's anyone who is sensitive or forgot to race it's me. Son of former sharecroppers that were basically slaves. So I get it. I listened very carefully to Miss Tully and I think, and I'm not gonna put words in her mouth. But I think she said that she was not. Calling you a racist. And I thought that we could clarify that. Because Mr Meadows, you know and all of the people on this committee, I've said it and got in trouble for it, that you're one of my best friends. I know that shocks a lot of people. And likewise, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, but you are. And I could see and feel your pain. I feel it, and I don't think Miss Ali intended to cause you that. That kinda pain and that kind of frustration. Did you have a statement, Miss Sully? I'm gonna yield to you. We need to straighten this out. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And to my colleage, Mr. [ UNKNOWN ] that was not my intention. And I do apologize if that's what it sounded like. But I said someone, in general. And as everybody knows in this chamber, I'm pretty direct. So if I wanted to say that, I would have. But that's not what I said. And thank you, Mr. Chairman, for allowing me to clarify, but again, I said someone. And again, that was not referring to you at all, as a racist. I thank the gentlewoman for her comments. I thank the chairman for working to clarify this, and I appreciate the chairman's intervening. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Rep. Tlaib and Rep. Meadows Have a Heated Exchange During the Cohen Hearing ","description":"Rep. 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