The frontrunner in the Maryland Democratic Senate primary race, Congressman David Trone (D-MD), is in the hot seat this week after using a racial slur during a congressional budget hearing. However, his camp told The Root that he intended to use a similar-sounding word unrelated to the offensive term.
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The incident took place during a congressional hearing about taxes on Thursday with White House Office of Budget and Management director Shalanda Young.
“So this Republican jigaboo that — it’s the tax rate that’s stopping business investment, it’s just completely faulty by people who have never run a business,” said Trone, 68, without pause during the hearing.
Referring to Republicans, Trone added, “They’ve never been there. They don’t have a clue what they’re talking about.”
For those who don’t know, Jigaboo is an offensive term for Black people. According to Rep. Trone, he intended to use the term “bugaboo” in an economic context, which means something that causes fear or distress out of proportion to its importance.
“While attempting to use the word bugaboo in a hearing, I used a phrase that is offensive. That word has a long, dark, terrible history. It should never be used any time anywhere, in any conversation,” he said in a statment to The Root. “I recognize that as a white man, I have privilege. And as an elected official, I have a responsibility for the words I use — especially in the heat of the moment. Regardless of what I meant to say, I shouldn’t have used that language.”
Rep. Trone is running against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks in the primary race. He currently leads against Alsobrooks but is running behind his potential Republican opponent, former Gov. Larry Hogan.
The Democratic primary in Maryland will be held on May 14th, and it’s anyone’s guess how this incident will impact voters at the polls.
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