On Monday, the House State Government Committee held a hearing on House Bill 1506, which would make English the Commonwealth’s official language. Prior to the hearing, committee chair Daryl Metcalfe’s published a list of those testifying at the hearing, and one of the guests included a documented white nationalist, Robert Vandervoot. At the hearing and during Vandervoort’s time in the hot seat, State Representative Leslie Acosta started her statement challenging the bill in Spanish and a couple of minutes later, State Representative Daryl Metcalfe cut Acosta’s microphone.
On Thursday, Daryl Metcalfe took to the house floor explaining that there’s a difference between white nationalism and white supremacy, which Acosta accused Vandervoot of being. Talking Points Memo picked up Metcalfe saying the following :
For whoever said the man was white to begin with, that person was actually the racist — tying his skin color to his patriotism and what he stands up for for his country. Emphasis added
According to Daryl Metcalfe, Robert Vandervoot is a victim of reverse racism, and on Friday, Metcalfe doubles down on his claim that Vandervoot was the victim of racism. According to the Post Gazette:
Mr. Metcalfe stuck to his remarks Friday, saying, “Whoever made the assertion he was white was actually the racist,” and he said he believed the controversy was distracting from the merits of the legislation to make English Pennsylvania’s official language.
