Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans (Va.) is facing calls to resign after seemingly agreeing with a local radio host who said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) should get his “cotton-picking hands off of Virginia.”
“If Hakeem Jeffries wants to be involved in Virginia politics, then I suggest he does what a bunch of New Yorkers are doing,” WRVA’s “Richmond’s Morning News” host Rich Herrera said Monday. “Leave New York, move down here to Virginia. Run for office down here — you can represent us. If not, get your cotton-picking hands off of Virginia.”
“That’s right, ditto,” Kiggans replied. “Yes, yes to that.”
Kiggans condemned Herrera’s language on X after the interview, but defended herself by claiming, “It was obvious to anyone listening that I was agreeing Hakeem Jefferies should stay out of Virginia.”
“This is precisely what’s wrong with Democrats,” Kiggans said. “Every lie and distortion is intended to distract from getting their hats handed to them and the Virginia Supreme Court’s clear message: stop trying to rig our elections.”
She received backlash for her response to Herrera’s offensive comment, along with calls to resign.
Jeffries’ office addressed Kiggans’ “ditto” in a statement on Tuesday, describing her as “a phony.”
“Jen Kiggans had her chance to disavow the vile, racist and dehumanizing comments from far-right talk show host Rich Herrera. Instead, she doubled down,” Jeffries spokesperson Christie Stephenson wrote. “Then, Jen Kiggans tripled down and attempted to blame partisanship in a pathetic follow-up statement.”
Stephenson said Kiggans’ follow-up statement “was a stunning failure of judgment and leadership for a so-called moderate Member of Congress representing a large, vibrant African American community in Virginia.”
“Extremists who endorse disgusting, vile and racist language are pathetic,” the statement continued.
Stephenson went on to attack Kiggans’ politics by claiming she “has no interest in our nation’s progress toward a multi-racial democracy and apparently craves a return to the days of Jim Crow racial oppression in the South.”
“That’s why MAGA Republicans in legislatures and courts across America have launched a full-scale assault on Black representation,” Stephenson wrote. “Jen Kiggans pretends to be a centrist, but even a cursory analysis of her record makes clear that she is a phony.”