Illinois Dem Tweets Widely Denounced Slur, Forced to Backtrack
Democratic Rep. Chuy Garcia of Illinois posted a vulgar and insensitive response to a Twitter user who criticized a gun control bill passed by the House of Representatives.
On Friday evening, the House voted to pass a ban on “assault weapons.” The bill was narrowly approved by a 217-213 margin and will now head to the Senate, Fox News reported.
After the vote, Garcia tweeted in support of the “assault weapons” ban.
“I just voted to reinstate the assault weapons ban,” he wrote. “Now it’s the Senate’s turn to pass it and send it to President Biden’s desk. Weapons of war have no place in our communities or on our streets.”
One Twitter user responded with, “Never even heard of this guy and I won’t comply even if his silly law passes.”
Garcia replied with profanity and a term for people with mental disabilities that many consider an offensive slur.
“You are borderline retarded, ya f***ing dips***.”
The tweet was later deleted and Garcia blamed a staffer for the message, saying that the person responsible would face disciplinary action.
“Last night a member of Congressman García’s staff posted an unauthorized tweet from the Congressman’s account using profanities and offensive language to individuals living with disabilities,” his office said in a Saturday morning statement.
“The language used was absolutely inappropriate and inconsistent with Congressman Garcia’s history, values, and character. The individual responsible will be held accountable and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken.”
Meanwhile, the gun control bill that Garcia defended in his tweets is facing an uphill battle now that it’s landed in the Senate.
The legislation would ban the sale, manufacture, transfer and possession of semiautomatic weapons and “large-capacity ammunition feeding devices,” CBS News reported.
The bill also bans weapons with at least one other “military-type feature” that makes them “especially deadly,” as defined by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms under the Clinton and Bush administrations.
All of the House Republicans voted against the bill except Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Chris Jacobs of New York, Fox reported.
Five Democrats broke with their party to vote no: Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Kurt Schrader of Oregon and Ron Kind of Wisconsin.
President Joe Biden said that most Americans agree that “assault weapons” should be banned, and he urged the Senate to pass the bill.
“The majority of the American people agree with this commonsense action,” Biden said.
“The Senate should move quickly to get this bill to my desk, and I will not stop fighting until it does. There can be no greater responsibility than to do all we can to ensure the safety of our families, our children, our homes, our communities and our nation,” he added.
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