Is Cori Bush the worst member of the US Congress? It’s a tough contest given people like Rashida Tlaib and Mazie Hirono exist, but with all her might, Bush is doing her best to distinguish herself.

On Thursday, the Missouri congresswoman was questioning a witness in a hearing on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Naturally, instead of discussing the topic at hand, she back to the only well she drinks from. You guessed it, she accused him of “white supremacy,” but her supposed evidence of that is what really took the cake.

When I agreed to testify about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, I didn't expect the hearing's lead Democrat, @CoriBush, to make a prepared statement falsely accusing me of having "espoused White Supremacist views"!

Fortunately, I got the chance to respond.

Here's how it went. pic.twitter.com/lgS4RNlbyz

— Alex Epstein (@AlexEpstein) March 9, 2023

If you watch the video, Bush is apparently convinced that Alex Epstein is a dangerous racist based on his past writings. What were those writings? Well, he had the audacity (way back in college) to write a paper suggesting that African culture isn’t on par with Western culture and should not be promoted as such. Bush then concluded her attack by proclaiming that “we are not inferior,” even though she is a member of Western, not African culture.

I’m left watching that wondering if she’s truly as vapid as she comes across or if she’s just deeply dishonest. As Epstein goes on to explain, his point was not that African people are inferior. Rather, he espoused the completely understandable (and correct) view that Western culture is superior in the sense that it promotes individual liberty and freedom.

Slavery still exists in parts of Africa. Many African nations suffer from grave human rights abuses. Dictators are common on the continent. That’s not the fault of the individual residents of Africa, and as someone who has been there many times, I love the people I’ve encountered. In my experience, they are loving, kind, and generous, making them preferable to many people I’ve encountered back in the United States. But it is not controversial to say that Western culture is preferable as well, and that was Epstein’s point.

With that said, the dumbest part of this is that it’s completely irrelevant. This hearing was about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. What do deranged accusations of white supremacy have to do with anything?

Every time Bush speaks in public, she manages to completely beclown herself. She’s living proof that not just anyone can and should be a congressional member. It takes some level of basic competency that she clearly doesn’t possess. That she’s also ridiculously corrupt only adds insult to injury. Epstein was there to talk about an important topic. Sideshows about white supremacy are intellectually lazy and stupid.