A Democratic House lawmaker, known for his jaw-dropping remarks, repurposed a Holocaust-era poem on Wednesday to argue that the Trump administration is targeting “Latinos outside of the Home Depots.”
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who once worried Guam could sink from overpopulation, subjected lawmakers to his bizarre variation of German theologian Martin Niemöller’s famous “First They Came For …” poem during a House Judiciary Committee hearing – leaving some people stunned.
“You know, first they came for the Latinos outside of the Home Depots, trying to get work so that they could feed their families,” Johnson began. “And I didn’t say anything about it because I’m not a Latino at the Home Depot.”
“Then they came for the Hispanic-looking folks wearing hats backward with tattoos and they deported them to El Salvador,” the congressman continued. “And I didn’t say anything about that because I don’t wear my hair [sic] backward and I don’t have any tattoos and I don’t look like a Latino.”
Johnson then suggested the Trump administration “came for the Latinas at home, taking care of the children … and I didn’t say anything about it because I’m not a Latina.”
The original version of the poem Johnson appropriated notes how the Nazi regime came for “socialists” and “trade unionists” before going after “Jews.”
The Georgia Democrat’s variation went on to allude to the Trump administration’s attempts to deport individuals on student visas over their alleged sympathies to Hamas and the recent arrest of a Wisconsin judge accused of helping an illegal migrant evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“But then they came for me, and I looked around and there was nobody left because I had remained silent, and they had taken everybody,” Johnson concluded.
The congressman argued that the poem he “paraphrased” resonated “back then as it does today,” before describing President Trump as a “lawless tyrant.”
The House Judiciary GOP X account shared a clip of Johnson’s rant, captioned: “WOW. @RepHankJohnson just implied that all latinos hang out at Home Depot.”
In the clip, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) quickly leaves his seat and gets out of the camera shot when Johnson drops his “Latinos at Home Depots” line.
“Yeah, this was said after WWII,” one X user said of Johnson’s attempt at poetry. “It does NOT apply to people in your country illegally.”
Charles Cornell III, a speechwriter for Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), sarcastically tweeted: “Incredible content from a master of the craft.”
Several X posts referenced Johnson’s previous outrageous remarks.
“I have an idea,” one X user wrote. “Lets send all the illegals to the east coast of Guam, I think that will stop it from tipping over.”
Meanwhile, Virginia Kruta argued that Johnson “lost credibility when Guam didn’t capsize.”
