Texas state Rep. Michelle Beckley (D) tweeted out a statement Wednesday claiming that House Speaker Dennis Bonnen (R) apologized individually to her “male counterparts” that he insulted during a recorded meeting, but not to her.
She says that she initially quickly replied to the mass email he sent on Tuesday, accepting his apology and expressing her desire “to move on.”
However, she soon discovered that Bonnen has personally reached out to the men on the recording captured by activist Michael Sullivan, but that she, allegedly the sole woman he insulted, was passed over.
Neither Bonnen nor Beckley responded to requests for comment.
“In a chamber where 33 women serve, 22% of the entire body, are we not due the same respect our male colleagues are given?” Beckley wrote in a statement. “Our votes on the floor are equal to that of any other male member, our leadership is just as effective and our service is as exemplary.”
“Except in this case, I am disappointed that the speaker has chosen not to address this issue with me personally,” she continued. “I have to ask, Mr. Speaker, where is my apology? But more so, I am disgusted that this issue has taken so much time away from the business of governing the people of my district.”
“Except in this case, I am disappointed that the speaker has chosen not to address this issue with me personally. I have to ask, Mr. Speaker, where is my apology?” #txlege @RepDennisBonnen pic.twitter.com/sTMqr2Xv1z
— Michelle Beckley (@ForHD65) August 7, 2019
Read TPM’s breakdown of this situation here.
Forget it, Jake, it’s Texas.
Of course, I’m not privy to what exactly Bonnen said on that tape, but his not apologizing directly to Beckley suggests that Bonnen has some blind spots–others of which are very likely the reason this tape is so potentially damaging to him(and the GOP).
“Where’s that sammich!?!?!”
I guess the moral here is “If you want an apology from a Texas Rethugliklan schmuck you have to own a dick.”
I hope the tape gets released. Soon. Bonnen shouldn’t get away with this.