Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker received criticism for calling a speech by Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley a “rant.”
Pressley, 45, delivered a passionate speech during the 50th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast in Boston, Massachusetts, on Monday. Baker, a Republican, was tasked with following Pressley’s speech. When he approached the microphone, he joked about struggling to fill the stage after the Massachusetts congresswoman’s “rant.”
Baker’s comment outraged many, including Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. Healy, a Democrat, ripped Baker, tweeting, “@Ayanna Pressley spoke the truth about racial injustice and the disparities faced by Black women and people of color at the MLK breakfast. It was thoughtful, personal, and anything but a rant. Language like that is dismissive and perpetuates the very harm we seek to end.”
.@AyannaPressley spoke the truth about racial injustice and the disparities faced by Black women and people of color at the MLK breakfast. It was thoughtful, personal, and anything but a rant. Language like that is dismissive and perpetuates the very harm we seek to end. https://t.co/dfeKMbTGZm
— Maura Healey (@MassAGO) January 20, 2020
Here is a rant for you.
– Not a single Black Secretary in your Cabinet;
– Meetings w/the Black & Latino Caucus & your Black “Advisory” Committee do NADA;
– Only 3 Black Superior Ct. Judges in MA out of 80+
– We deserve representation & real power.
Proceed @RepPressley https://t.co/DhSjMeylkv
— DA Rachael Rollins (@DARollins) January 20, 2020
While several people came to Pressley’s defense, she laughed off Baker’s remark during the event and joked that she had just delivered a TED Talk. Baker was also visibly impressed by the congresswoman’s remarks.
A spokeswoman for Baker, Lizzy Guyton, addressed the controversy and claimed that it was obvious that the governor was impressed by Pressley’s speech, which is why he signaled that it would be difficult to follow her remarks. Guyton apologized on his behalf, saying that “the governor agreed with Congresswoman Pressley’s remarks today and believes her speech was moving.”
Pressley, who is one member of the four-person “squad” of liberal Democrats, gave a fiery speech to the crowd of nearly 1,000 who gathered at the breakfast. She told the crowd, “I’m still an abolitionist because my people still are not free. And I mean that in every way, not only because of the new Jim Crow and mass incarceration but because we don’t have economic justice.”
Baker, 63, is one of the only Republicans elected to the top levels of the Massachusetts government. Both senators, the attorney general, the secretary of the commonwealth, and treasurer are all Democrats.
