A Colorado Republican state lawmaker on Wednesday disrupted the legislature while he himself was speaking after referring to a colleague in the chamber as “Buckwheat,” a racist slur.
GOP state Rep. Richard Holtorf made headlines just two weeks ago after defending himself amid accusations from another House member that he had been “talking about Black-on-Black crime” as the two rode an elevator, The Denver Post reported. The paper noted that Holtorf “is frequently chastised on House floor for violating chamber rules of decorum.”
“I in college had a friend who was an African American and he was a homosexual, and we were good buddies,” Rep. Holtorf told lawmakers.
On Wednesday for reasons that are unclear Rep. Holtorf declared, “I’m getting there, don’t worry, Buckwheat, I’m getting there.”
As shock fell across the House chamber Holtorf added, “That’s an endearing term, by the way.”
9News’ Kyle Clark posted the video of Holtorf’s racist remark:
Clark notes that it was “not clear from the House video feed who Holtorf called ‘Buckwheat.’ He was immediately challenged by Rep Tom Sullivan, who Holtorf had previously told to get over the murder of his son in the Aurora Theater shooting.”