Virginia Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans faces backlash after she publicly agreed with a comment by a local conservative radio host that used a racist reference toward House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The remark urged Jeffries to keep his “cotton-picking hands off of Virginia.” Multiple outlets report that Kiggans, who is in a competitive re-election environment, responded to the radio host’s statement by indicating agreement, which drew criticism from Democrats.
Jeffries’s office condemned the response, with a spokesperson calling the remark inappropriate and targeting Kiggans for aligning herself with the language. Democratic lawmakers and advocates demanded that Kiggans apologize. In coverage from MSNBC, Kiggans is also described defending her response after the incident, following the controversy over the radio host’s racial language aimed at Jeffries.
Across sources, the dispute centers on Kiggans’s concurrence with the radio host’s phrasing, the resulting political reaction, and her subsequent defense amid calls for an apology.
