House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) office on Thursday criticized Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) for stating there was a “culture problem” of men “not even thinking about working” in inner cities.
“There are few words that can describe such a deeply ignorant comment, but shameful, disturbing, and wrong offer a good start,” Drew Hammill, a spokesperson for Pelosi, said in an emailed statement.
Ryan on Wednesday suggested that the “culture” in inner cities contributes to poverty in the U.S.
“We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work, and so there is a real culture problem here that has to be dealt with,” he said.
Rep. Barabara Lee (D-CA) on Wednesday said that Ryan’s remarks were a “thinly veiled racial attack.”
But Ryan defended himself later on Wednesday, insisting that his comments had “nothing to do whatsoever with race.”
