American politician Markwayne Mullin was trolled online for saying he does not want “reality” while discussing childcare and the teaching of race. On May 31, the 45-year-old personality was present at a Senate hearing where he spoke about a children’s book about race and asked each witness if that book or the words to “Jesus Loves Me” should be taught in schools.
He held up the children’s book Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race and read an excerpt from it:
“A long time ago, way before you were born, a group of white people made up an idea called race. They sorted people by skin color and said that white people were better, smarter, prettier, and they deserved more than everybody else.” Disagreeing with the text, Mullin asked people to prove if White people coined the concept of race and “that all of a sudden that was our word that we developed.” He then asked witnesses which one was better to teach and read the lyrics to Jesus Loves Me.
Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin slips and admits he doesn’t “want reality” when questioning a panel on childcare access pic.twitter.com/PVvmY9IXPZ
— Marjorie Gaylor Queen 🏳️🌈 (@Tim_Tweeted) May 31, 2023
During the meeting, which was held by the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, he talked over the speakers as they tried to answer his question. As the panelist tried to reply, she was interjected by Sanders, who asked her to answer the question, when Mullin said:
“No, I don’t want reality.” This led to an eruption of laughter in the room, with Mullin responding to it with “Misspoke.”
Before his statement was laughed off during the hearing, Markwayne Mullin said he experienced racism in his early days while he was bashing the children’s book, Our Skin, written by Jessica Ralli and Megan Madison.
“This, that is a story that was made up to teach our kids, three-year-olds, who have no idea what race is.” He then continued:
“By the way, I’m Cherokee Native American. I think we have experienced a little bit of racism before in my life.”
As per his Wikipedia bio, Mullin belongs to the Cherokee Nation as a registered citizen. As reported, the 117th Congress has five Native Americans serving in its ranks, including him. In a historic moment, a Native American has been elected to Congress as a senator for the first time in almost 20 years.
He is also the second member of the Cherokee Nation to hold a seat in the Senate, following in the footsteps of Robert Latham Owen, who represented Oklahoma from 1907 to 1925.
Twitter reacts to Markwayne Mullin’s awkward moment in the hearing
After Markwayne Mullin’s abrupt reaction about not wanting to know the reality went viral, Twitterati trolled him. Several users mocked him for saying that he is a Native American and has experienced racism himself. Others slammed him for his words, with one even saying that the Senator’s fantasy about making America a “Christian fantasy land” will never happen.
The new motto of the GOP;
'I DON'T WANT REALITY"
Courtesy of Sen Markwayne Mullin pic.twitter.com/7H3MoZueFG— Cincigal (@na52g) June 1, 2023
