'How Much Reparations Have You Personally Paid?': Rep. Gill Confronts NPR CEO With Her Past Tweets

2 days ago

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) questioned NPR CEO Katherine Maher at today's House DOGE Committee hearing.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Chairwoman Green, and I apologize. I'm getting over a cold, so I'm losing my

00:06voice here. Ms. Marr, I want to start with you. Just generally, would you say you generally

00:13agree or disagree with the following statement? The history of all hitherto existing society

00:18is the history of class struggles?

00:21I would not say I agree with that, sir.

00:23That's good to hear. It's interesting, because a lot of your thinking, as expressed by your

00:27public statements, is deeply infused with economic and cultural Marxism. Do you believe

00:33that America is addicted to white supremacy?

00:37I believe that I tweeted that, and as I've said earlier, I believe much of my thinking

00:41has evolved over the last half decade.

00:43It has evolved. Why did you tweet that?

00:46I don't recall the exact context, sir, so I wouldn't be able to say.

00:51Do you believe that America believes in black plunder and white democracy?

00:55I don't believe that, sir.

00:58You tweeted that in reference to a book you were reading at the time, apparently, The

01:02Case for Reparations.

01:04I don't think I've ever read that book, sir.

01:06You tweeted about it. You said you took a day off to fully read The Case for Reparations.

01:12You put that on Twitter in January of 2020.

01:15I apologize. I don't recall that I did. I have no doubt that your tweet there is correct,

01:21but I don't recall that.

01:22Okay. Do you believe that white people inherently feel superior to other races?

01:27I do not.

01:28You don't? You tweeted something to that effect. You said, I grew up feeling superior, ha,

01:33how white of me. Why did you tweet that?

01:36I think I was probably reflecting on what it was to grow up in an environment where

01:42I had lots of advantages.

01:43It sounds like you're saying that white people feel superior.

01:47I don't believe that anybody feels that way, sir. I was just reflecting on my own experiences.

01:51Do you think that white people should pay reparations?

01:53I have never said that, sir.

01:55Yes, you did. You said it in January of 2020. You tweeted, yes, the North. Yes, all of us.

02:01Yes, America. Yes, our original collective sin and unpaid debt. Yes, reparations. Yes,

02:07on this day.

02:08I don't believe that was a reference to fiscal reparations, sir.

02:11What kind of reparations was it a reference to?

02:13I think it was just a reference to the idea that we all owe much to the people who came

02:17before us.

02:18That's a bizarre way to frame what you tweeted. Okay. How, how, how many, how much reparations

02:25have you personally paid?

02:27Sir, I, I don't believe that I've ever paid reparations.

02:30Okay. It's just for everybody else.

02:33I'm not asking anyone seems to be what you're suggesting. Do you believe that looting is

02:37morally wrong?

02:38I believe that looting is illegal and I refer to it as counterproductive. I think it should

02:42be prosecuted.

02:43Do you believe it's morally wrong though?

02:45Of course.

02:46Then why did you refer to it as counterproductive? The very different, very different way to

02:51describe it.

02:52It is both morally wrong and counterproductive as well as being tweeted.

02:55It's hard to be mad about protests in reference to the BLM road to protests, not prioritizing

03:01the private property of a system of oppression. You didn't condemn the looting. You said that

03:07it was counterproductive. NPR also promoted a book called in defense of looting. Do you

03:13think that that's an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars?

03:16Uh, I'm unfamiliar with that book, sir. And I don't believe that was at my time.

03:20You tweeted that you read that book, but

03:22I don't believe that I did read that book, sir.

03:24Do you think that, uh, a few, few years ago, NPR educated America about quote, the whole

03:30community of genderqueer dinosaur enthusiasts. Do you think that that's a inappropriate use

03:35of tax dollars?

03:36I was not an NPR at the time, sir.

03:38That's not the question though. Do you think that that's an appropriate use of our tax

03:40dollars?

03:41I think our tax dollars that we use are to be able to provide a wide range of,

03:45I'll take, I'll take that as a yes. You do believe that that's appropriate. Your health

03:49advisor at NPR also stated in an interview that quote, fear of fatness is more harmful

03:55than actual fat. Would you like to explain how fear of fatness is more harmful than actual

04:00fat? That's directly, that's an editorial at NPR.

04:03I am not familiar with the editorial and I don't believe that was published during my

04:06time here.

04:07It's called diet culture is everywhere. Here's how to fight it. Do you think that that's

04:10an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars?

04:12I think, uh, any reporting on health is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars. Yes.

04:17And you, and you think that editorializing that fat is not unhealthy is appropriate.

04:22I don't know that what that article is, sir, and I'm not familiar with it, so I couldn't

04:26say.

04:27This is fake news. Um, do you think that basic accommodations like doorways or seatbelts

04:31represent quote, latent fat phobia?

04:34Uh, I don't have an opinion.

04:35It's also from NPR. Do you think civility is racist?

04:39No, sir.

04:40No. Your outlet ran an article entitled quote, when civility is used as a cudgel against

04:45people of color, that was on all things considered, would you like to explain?

04:51I, well, I'm not on the editorial side, sir. I don't, I'm not familiar with that story.

04:55You talk about how NPR is news. This is, this is editorialization and I'll read it for many

05:00people of color in the United States. Civility isn't so much social lubricant as it is a

05:05vehicle for containing them, preventing social mobility and preserving the status quo. This

05:10is garbage. I'll spend all of my time doing everything I can to ensure you guys never

05:16get another dollar of taxpayer funding. This is complete garbage. Thank you, Madam Chair.

05:22Thank you, Mr. Gill.

05:23I now recognize

'How Much Reparations Have You Personally Paid?': Rep. Gill Confronts NPR CEO With Her Past Tweets

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