Republican apologizes for calling Black Americans ‘people of color’ in House floor speech: Eli Crane tells DailyMail.com he was mistaken and wished he could take back comments after sparking Democrats’ anger
- ‘I was mistaken. It’s unfortunate. I wish I could get it back,” Crane, R-Ariz., told DailyMail.com from the House floor
- He gave a speech about an amendment that would prohibit DoD from considering “race, gender, religion, political affiliations” in recruiting
- “My amendment has nothing to do with whether or not it serves people of color or black people or anyone else,” Crane said Thursday
GOP Representative Eli Crane struck a regretful tone when he apologized for referring to African Americans as “people of color” on the House floor Thursday.
‘I was mistaken. It’s unfortunate. I wish I could get it back,” Crane, R-Ariz., told DailyMail.com from the House floor.
Crane, a former Navy Seal and freshman member, gave a speech on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
On Thursday night, he said the amendment would bar the Defense Department from considering “race, gender, religion, political affiliations or “other ideological concepts” as part of military recruitment.
“My amendment has nothing to do with whether or not we serve people of color or black people or anyone else,” said Crane, who is in his first term. “It has nothing to do with that sort of thing.”
GOP Representative Eli Crane struck a regretful tone as he apologized for referring to African Americans as “people of color” on the House floor Thursday
The comment provoked immediate outrage from Democrats and a sharp rebuke from the former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).
“The military was never meant to be, you know, inclusive. The strength is not the diversity. His strength is his standards,” said Crane, 43.
“I’m going to tell you this now, you can: you can continue to play these games with diversity, equality and inclusion. But there are some real threats. And if we keep messing around and keep lowering our standards, it’s not going to be good,” he said.
When his remarks ended, Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, to strike “people of color” off the record.
Crane insisted he had meant “colored people.”
“I find it offensive and very inappropriate,” said Beatty, the former CBC chairman. “I ask for unanimous permission to remove the words that refer to me or any of my colleagues as people of color.”
Crane stepped in, requesting that his comments be changed to read “people of color.”
In a statement through his office after the incident, Crane insisted he had “misspoken” and said his amendment would prevent discrimination.
“In a heated floor debate over my amendment that would ban discrimination based on skin color in the armed forces, I made a mistake,” Crane said in a statement. “Each of us is made in the image of God and created equal.”
Crane’s amendment was approved and added to the NDAA bill – which passed Friday morning.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy was asked about the Arizona Republican’s comment at a news conference. ‘That’s not acceptable. I take him at his word that he was mistaken.’