The office of Representative Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.) sent fellow Democrats suggested talking points, one of which likened Republicans to “Nazis,” in an attempt to draw attention away from the fact that the congressman pulled a fire alarm in the Capitol during a consequential series of votes on Saturday.
“I believe Congressman Bowman when he says this was an accident,” a memo drafted by Bowman’s office and obtained by Politico read. “Republicans need to instead focus their energy on the Nazi members of their party before anything else.”
Another talking point also tried to place blame on “MAGA” Republicans for “last minute votes” pertaining to the stopgap spending bill in the House that Bowman said he was trying to get to at the time he pulled the alarm. Others said the “signage on the doors is unnecessarily confusing,” leading Bowman to pull the alarm.
After reading the “Nazi” talking point that was sent to House Democrats, Representative Troy Nehls (R., Texas) posted on X: “Jamaal Bowman is an unhinged lunatic.”
The list of suggestions comes two days after Bowman pulled the fire alarm on the second floor of the Cannon House Office Building, trying to get to the House floor to vote on the stopgap spending bill on Saturday. The building was evacuated after Bowman activated the alarm.
“I was just trying to get to my vote. The door that’s usually open wasn’t open,” Bowman said Saturday following the incident. “I didn’t mean to cause confusion. I didn’t know it was going to trip the whole building. I thought it would help me open the door.”
The excuse, however, didn’t convince Republicans who speculated he was trying to delay the vote.
Representative Nicole Malliotakis (R., N.Y.) issued a resolution to expel Bowman from the House, and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) called on the Department of Justice to prosecute Bowman “using the same law they used to prosecute [January 6] defendants for interfering with an official proceeding.” Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) also called the action “embarrassing” and said it “should not go without punishment.”
House Administration Committee Republicans announced Saturday they opened an investigation into the incident. The Capitol Police are also investigating the matter.
In response to the backlash, Bowman swore he was not “trying to delay any vote.”
“It was the exact opposite,” he said in a statement. “I was trying urgently to get to a vote, which I ultimately did and joined my colleagues in a bipartisan effort to keep our government open. I also met after the vote with the Sergeant at Arms and the Capitol Police, at their request, and explained what had happened.”
The short-term spending bill ultimately passed both chambers of Congress and was signed by the president late Saturday, just before the midnight deadline. As a result, the federal government remains operational and funded for 45 days, giving the House and Senate extra time to agree on a spending bill that covers fiscal year 2024. The new shutdown deadline is set for November 17.