Dem Rep. Hank Johnson claims US has 'racist Senate,' accuses Rep. Roy of promoting 'White power'

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U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., claimed Thursday that "in some respects" the United States is presided over by a "racist Senate" and accused Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, of promoting "White privilege" and "White power" for objecting.

"Voting rights is not going away even though the Senate last night failed to do what it should have done and in some respects we can call it a racist Senate," Johnson said during a remote meeting of the House Judiciary Committee. Johnson was referring to the bipartisan Senate majority that voted to block the Democrats' election overhaul bills Wednesday night. 

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga.

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He continued: "The same way we can talk about racism when it comes to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle making statements today about Black people and Democrats race-baiting. It’s like, you know, when you mention about how much racism still exists in the soil of America they want to plant their heads in that soil and refuse to acknowledge what’s in the soil."

Johnson was referring to an earlier statement in the meeting from Roy, who used the term "race-baiting" to describe Democrat claims of "voter suppression" and the party's efforts to push the federal election overhaul that stalled in the Senate on Wednesday night. 

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, speaks at a news conference about the National Defense Authorization Bill. (Getty Images)

Johnson went on to say that Republicans have become "emboldened" due to former President Trump and what Johnson called his "Make America White Again" movement while also using the terms "White power" and "White privilege" to describe Roy. 

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"I’m just blown away by where we have fallen in our discourse on this committee," Johnson added after accusing Roy and the Senate of racism. 

Later in the meeting, Roy addressed the "White privilege" label that Johnson had placed on him and explained that his grandmother was raised by a single mom in West Texas in a house with a dirt floor and no indoor plumbing. Roy also detailed the struggles his family has had to endure including family members growing up "dirt poor" during the Depression and his father working himself through college while also suffering from polio.

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, speaks during the House Judiciary Committee markup of the Elder Abuse Protection Act. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

"I would question the assertion of my ‘privilege’ and ‘White power,’" Roy said.

"Democrats have nothing left to play but the race card given a year of devastating crime, open borders, appeasement of our enemies, and failed COVID policies," Roy told Fox News in a statement. "So you accuse the grandson of an orphaned poor West Texas farmer who lost his farm in the Depression of ‘white privilege’ and you go back to race-bating. Par for the course."

Johnson's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News.

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Several prominent Democrats in recent weeks have labeled opposition to their federal election overhaul bill and claims of voter suppression as "racist."  

Last week, President Biden linked Republicans and Democrats who oppose his voting rights platform to Democrat segregationists of the past including George Wallace and Bull Connor.

U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., was disparaged as a "racist" and a "bigot" by members of her own party for opposing the suspension of the Senate filibuster so that Democrats could push through the legislation.