US Democrats urge Jen Kiggans to resign for agreeing with racist ‘cotton-picking’ remark

Jen Kiggans, a Republican congresswoman, has faced calls from Democrats to resign for agreeing with a radio host after he said top US House Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries , should get his “cotton-picking hands off of Virginia”. Kiggans, who represents Virginia’s second US House district, has said she was agreeing with the host that Jeffries – who is the first Black American to lead a party in Congress – should stay out of Virginia politics. She also said she did not condone the host’s language, which multiple Democrats criticized as racist. The term “cotton-picking” is widely considered offensive due to the US history of slavery, when enslaved people – the overwhelming majority of whom were Black – picked cotton. “If Hakeem Jeffries wants to be involved in Virginia politics, then I suggest he does what a bunch of New Yorkers are doing,” Rich Herrera, a conservative radio host, said on Richmond’s Morning News on Monday. “Leave New York, move down here to Virginia. Run for office down here – you can represent us. If not, get your cotton-picking hands off of Virginia. Kiggans replied: “That’s right. Ditto – yes, yes to that.” She later issued a statement on X. “The radio host should not have used that language and I do not – and did not – condone it. It was obvious to anyone listening that I was agreeing Hakeem Jeffries should stay out of Virginia ,” Kiggans’s statement said. …