CNN’s Angela Rye suggested Monday that Democrats are being tougher on Rep. John Conyers than Sen. Al Franken because Conyers is black.
WATCH:
Many Democrats have been reluctant to call for either Franken or Conyers to resign over sexual harassment allegations, but Conyers has stepped aside as the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee pending an investigation into his alleged actions. Conyers settled with one woman in 2015 after she claimed that he fired her for refusing his sexual advances.
Rye, who previously served as the executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, argued during a CNN interview that Conyers is being treated more harshly than Franken because he is an African American. She even seemed to claim that the allegations could be political hit job on Conyers.
“What I will tell you as the former CBC’s executive director is that far too often, our members who are the most senior ranking, our members that have the most desired position in the House, get targeted in very strange ways,” Rye ranted.
Rye explained that when she was working for the CBC, 4 of the 6 ethics investigations were related to African American members.
“Are you going to tell me that black members are more unethical than white members?” she said angrily.
She went on to say that she “stands with” the 12 House staffers who say they have never experienced sexual misconduct by Conyers, seemingly trying to discredit the woman who settled with the congressman in 2015.