Embattled Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) announced that not only is he retiring after more than four decades in the U.S. House of Representatives, but that he is endorsing his son, John Conyers III to replace him.
Conyers made the announcement Tuesday on the Mildred Gaddis Radio Show in Detroit. It comes just days after House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called on Conyers to resign his post amid a slew of allegations of sexual misconduct. Conyers reportedly settled with multiple accusers, paying the women as much as $84,000 in exchange for their silence.
#BREAKING: Rep John Conyers endorses his son to replace him in Congress, he announced on the Mildred Gaddis Radio Show just now- @CNNPolitics
— AnneClaire Stapleton (@AnneClaireCNN) December 5, 2017
Conyers’ interview, though, was about as tone deaf as could be, even by former Hillary Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle’s standards. Instead of apologizing to his accusers, Conyers STILL denied the allegations, refused to pay back the taxpayers funds which he used to pay accusers, and gloated about his “legacy,” saying it cannot be compromised.
Adding fuel to the fire, Conyers endorsed his own flesh and blood, John Conyers III, to replace him in the U.S. House of Representatives. As I tweeted as the news broke, Conyers’ endorsement of his own son to replace him reminds me of how one might run a family business.
#Breaking: Embattled Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) endorses son to replace him amid sexual harassment allegations.
Because apparently congressional seats are now family businesses.
— Jon Street (@JonStreet) December 5, 2017
Only in this case, the “family business” is a taxpayer-funded congressional seat. Of course, Conyers cannot just appoint his son to replace him. Voters in Michigan will ultimately have that say. But Conyers’ denial of the women’s claims, and his endorsement of his son, rather than say, a woman, wreaks of the type of swamp-like behavior that contributed to Trump’s election.
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