Bowman camp plays ‘Nazi’ card in fire alarm incident defense

Bowman camp plays ‘Nazi’ card in fire alarm incident defense

October 02, 2023 04:23 PM

Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s (D-NY) office circulated a memo of talking points to House Democratic communications directors on how to respond to questions about him pulling a fire alarm, where they referred to some in the House Republican Conference as “Nazi members.”

In a memo posted on social media by Punchbowl News, which the Washington Examiner verified, Bowman’s communication director circulated a list of talking points to fellow House Democrats on how they can defend Bowman when asked about his fire alarm controversy.

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On Saturday, while Democrats were trying to delay a vote on the continuing resolution, Bowman pulled the fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building. He told the Washington Examiner that he was trying to get through a door and pulled the fire alarm to do so.

Some House Republicans have claimed that Bowman’s intention in pulling the fire alarm was to delay the vote, a claim Bowman said was “BS.”

“I was rushing to make a vote, I was trying to get through a door, I thought the alarm would open a door,” Bowman said.

But that has not stopped the scrutiny of Bowman as to why he pulled the fire alarm, which is why his office is circulating messaging points.

“I believe Congressman Bowman when he says this was an accident. Republicans need to instead focus their energy on the Nazi members of their party before anything else,” one of the talking points read.

Bowman later had to apologize for using the term Nazi in the memo, saying it was used without his knowledge.

“I just became aware that in our messaging guidance, there was inappropriate use of the term Nazi without my consent,” Bowman said in a post on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. “I condemn the use of the term Nazi out of its precise definition. It is important to specify the term Nazi to refer to members of the Nazi party & neo-Nazis.”

The U.S. Capitol Police released further information about the incident on Monday. Without naming Bowman, they said that video from the security footage shows a person, who is Bowman, trying to open the emergency exit door and then turning and pulling the fire alarm.

“USCP officers had previously placed signs with clear language that explained the door was secured and marked as an emergency exit only,” the statement said.

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Bowman has had to deal with an immense amount of pushback following him pulling the fire alarm, including some members of the Republican Conference filing motions to expel or censure him.

In addition, earlier on Monday, the Washington Examiner reported that there was a flier in the Cannon House Office Building mocking Bowman by imitating an FBI wanted poster with his member photo alongside the photo of him pulling the fire alarm.

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