QUIET PART LOUD

GOP Senator Says ‘I Don’t Want Reality’ in Heated Debate Over Book

Laughter erupted in the room after Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s declaration, with another lawmaker joking they “got it on tape.”

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) drew guffaws from his colleagues on Wednesday after he declared he didn’t “want reality” from a witness during a heated exchange over a children’s book. An election denier and former cage fighter who has been repeatedly chastened for his fiery language in meetings, Mullin was speaking in a Senate hearing of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee when proceedings turned hostile. He asked a witness if they thought a book about race called “Our Skin” was “better to be taught” to children than the lyrics to “Jesus Loves Me.” As Cheryl Morman, the president of the Virginia Alliance for Family Child Care Associations, attempted to speak, Mullin cut her off. “The reality is—” she began, before Mullin shouted, “I don’t want reality! I’m asking the question! Which one is better? That’s exactly what it is.” The committee’s members then burst out in laughter, with one remarking, “Got it on tape.” Mullin replied: “Misspoke.”