Rep. Allen West (R-FL) is someone I really like. I like that he says what he thinks and doesn’t mind if it ticks off the left. Apparently he made a nice gesture of providing free food for the Black Caucus. Instead of the Black Caucus being thankful that someone else provided food for them, they were offended. Why? Because what Rep. West sent them were Chick-Fil-A biscuits!
Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) said that it was a deliberate attempt to offend the members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
“We have a rotation in the Congressional Black Caucus where every member provides the lunch one of the weeks when we meet,” Hastings told Huffington Post on Monday.
“We have fried chicken. And we have catfish and BBQ. We do not have watermelon, although sometimes people will have fruit. We serve a full course meal with collard greens. We have Jamaican beans and rice,” he continued. “But West ”sent Chick-fil-A with biscuits. Ok?”
“That was an ‘in your face.’ Every member of the Congressional Black Caucus that was there was offended,” he added.
So let’s get this straight (pun intended, since the controversy over Chick-Fil-A deals with homosexual ‘marriage). Mr. Hastings and his Democrat colleagues are ok with chicken just as long as it isn’t chicken from Chick-Fil-A. they are such thin skinned, little people that they could not respond graciously and thank Rep. West for providing such wonderful food for their meeting. No, they had to go and get their dander up about what brand of Chicken was provided.
The Huffington Post reports,
The Democratic lawmaker said West hasn’t been back to any CBC meetings since then.
A West spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for the CBC also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hastings and West represent adjacent districts in Florida. Hastings is in a solidly Democratic district, but West is running in a newly drawn district this year, the bulk of which President Barack Obama won in 2008. Despite the close proximity of their districts, Hastings said they never talk, not even in passing on Capitol Hill.
“He doesn’t speak to me by his own choosing,” Hastings said, taking issue with some of West’s harsh personal attacks on fellow Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D). Among other things, West last year called her “vile, despicable and cowardly” for challenging his views on Medicare during a House floor debate.”
“I wouldn’t want to go into his mental state,” Hastings added. “All I know is his verbiage and his rhetoric is way over the top. Way over the top.”
West spokeswoman Angela Melvin said his choice of Chick-fil-A “had nothing to do” with the company’s values or stance on marriage.
“He loves Chick-fil-A,” Melvin told ABC News. “Catered the event on something that was affordable and what average Americans eat. The fact that Mr. Hastings would turn this into anything else is laughable and desperate.”
Melvin said West spent about $600 on the Chick-fil-A meal and that there was “not a plate left” by the end of the meeting.
So what does West have to say? In an interview in Chicago last, West told CNBC that he wanted to open up his own Chick-Fil-A franchise in Chicago. “I had to come up from down South because I wanted to try to open up a Chick-fil-A franchise here in Chicago,” West said in an interview with CNBC’s Rick Santelli.
While Santelli said that West was being “sarcastic” and doesn’t really intend on opening a Chick-Fil-A, he also asked West if he thought it “a bit unusual” for a mayor, like Rahm Emanuel to block a business based on the beliefs of the owner.
West responded in typical fashion saying that he was not surprised at all by how “the other side” reacted.
“It doesn’t when you understand the other side, the liberal side, because free speech is only free if you agree with what they say and what they believe,” West said.
Now I ask you: West spent $600 on the Chick-Fil-A he gave to the Congressional Black Caucus and not a plate was left, does that sound like people were offended or enjoyed good food while trying to make a hypocritical political statement?
Allen West: I grew up on Chick-Fil-A