Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., said that Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., was being unnecessarily divisive when she claimed automakers discriminate against nonwhites when giving out car loans.
Kelly, an auto dealer himself, said during a Saturday segment on Fox News that Waters’ study that she cited was severely flawed. He and Waters engaged in a fiery back-and-forth on Friday on the House floor on the topic.
“To say that somehow we prey on non-white people is incredibly divisive and it is not who we are as a country,” Kelly said on Fox News. “This cancer that is breaking us down as a people you can’t talk that way.”
.@MikeKellyPA: “We can come on the floor of the People’s House and try to divide us in every way possible – the tone & tint, the color of our skin? The shape of our eye, our gender, our status in life? This is not who we are as America. America is a melting pot.” #Cavuto pic.twitter.com/cPhO6GY3lb
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 12, 2018
The House was debating whether to roll back an Obama-era rule that protected consumers from discrimination from dealers.
Waters took umbrage on the House floor over Kelly’s remarks that she was trying to divide Americans by pointing out discrimination.
“I want you to know that I am more offended as an African-American woman than you will ever be,” said Waters.
She added that President Trump is dividing this country after Kelly said that he and his colleagues are trying to make America great again, a reference to Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan.
Fox News’ Neil Cavuto, who said he asked Waters to come on the show, asked Kelly if he spoke with Waters, a frequent Trump critic, after the tense back-and-forth.
.@MaxineWaters and @MikeKellyPA clash in heated House floor exchange https://t.co/GEBZBGDP2r pic.twitter.com/O0JFASanwS
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 12, 2018
Kelly said that the two did attend an event at the Korean embassy recently with Waters and they had a pleasant conversation, but added that he felt the need to respond to her charges of discrimination against his industry.
“As a person that works in the automobile industry you cannot sit there and listen to that kind of talk and not rise up and say that is flawed, that is false and that is untrue,” he said.
