The congresswoman at the center of the fight over President Trump's call to a fallen soldier's widow is now accusing General John Kelly — who criticized her Thursday for violating the "sacred" nature of the personal phone call — of racism.
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Wilson) accused Gen. Kelly of lying about her and using racist terminology to disparage her.
During the same interview, Rep. Wilson inaccurately referred to Sgt. La David Johnson, whom she sometimes refers to as "my son," as a Green Beret. (Actually, of the four soldiers who were killed during the ambus in Niger, only Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black was a Green Beret.)
On Thursday, Gen. Kelly, speaking at the White House press briefing, retold a story about an earlier interaction with Rep. Wilson, and referred to her as an "empty barrel."
Asked about his comments Friday, Wilson said the term is racist.
"That’s a racist term too," Wilson said on CNN. "I’m thinking about that one. We looked it up in the dictionary because I had never heard of an empty barrel. And I don’t like to be dragged into something like that. The only thing I want to be dragged into right now is, bring back our girls who are the victims of Boko Haram in Nigeria."
This was a starkly different message than she had Thursday, when after hearing Gen. Kelly's remarks, Wilson quipped "I'm a rock star!"
After being asked about Kelly's comments Thursday, Wilson replied, ""You mean to tell me that I have become so important that the White House is following me. This is amazing. That is absolutely phenomenal. I have to tell my kids that I'm a rock star now."
Gen. Kelly's comments in which he likened Wilson to an "empty barrel" came while recounting a dedication ceremony for a new FBI field office in Miami:
When I listen to this woman and what she was saying, what she was doing on TV, the only thing I could do to collect my thoughts was to go and walk among the finest men and women on this Earth. You can always find them. They’re in Arlington National Cemetery. I went over there for an hour and a half, walked among the stones, some of whom I put there because they were doing what I told them to do when they were killed.
I’ll end with this: In April of 2015, I was still on active duty. I went to the dedication of the new F.B.I. field office in Miami. It was dedicated to two men that were killed in a firefight in Miami against drug traffickers in 1986. A guy by the name of Grogan and Duke. Grogan almost retired, 53 years old, Duke I think less than a year on the job. Anyways, they got in a gun fight and they were killed. Three other F.B.I. agents were there, wounded, now retired.
So we go down, Jim Comey did an absolutely brilliant memorial speech to those fallen men and to all of the men and women of the F.B.I. who serve our country so well, and law enforcement so well. There were family members there. Some of the children that were there were only 3 or 4 years old when their dads were killed on that street in Miami-Dade. Three of the men that survived the fight were there and gave rendition of how brave those men were and how they gave their lives.
A congresswoman stood up, and in the long tradition of empty barrels making the most noise, stood up there in all of that and talked about how she was instrumental in getting the funding for that building and how she took care of her constituents because she got the money. She just called up President Obama and on that phone call he gave the money to $20 million to build a building. She sat down. We were stunned. Stunned that she had done it. Even for someone that is that empty barrel, we were stunned.
But you know, none of us went to the press and criticized. None of us stood up and were appalled. We just said, ‘Okay, fine.’ So I still hope, as you write your stories, and I appeal to America that let’s not let this maybe last thing that is held sacred in our society, a young man, a young woman going out and giving his or her life for our country, let’s try to somehow keep that sacred. But it eroded a great deal yesterday by the selfish behavior of a member of Congress. I’m willing to take a question or two on this topic.”
Wilson said Kelly is "lying" about this incident.
“I heard his remarks and I heard him say that I am bragged that I secured the money for the building of the FBI building in Miramar," Wilson said. "And that’s a lie. You know I feel sorry for General Kelly. He has my sympathy for the loss of his son. But he can’t just go on TV and lie on me. I was not even in Congress in 2009 when the money for the building was secured. So that’s a lie. How dare he. However, I named the building at the behest of Director Comey, with the help of Speaker Boehner working cross party lines. So he didn’t tell the truth, and he needs to stop telling lies on me.”
The Miami Herald said it was unable to corroborate either side of the story.
"The Miami Herald could not obtain video of the April 10, 2015, event, or a transcript of the remarks," the paper reported. "Wilson denied saying what Kelly described, and said the timing made no sense."
"On Thursday evening, an administration spokesman issued a statement that said: 'The White House stands by Gen. Kelly’s account of the event,'" the paper reported.