Representative Jasmine Crockett faced online criticism on Thursday after reportedly having armed security remove an Atlantic journalist from her Senate campaign event in Texas.
Elaine Godfrey, the journalist in question, had just covered the campaign rally in Lubbock on Tuesday. As she attempted to interview the outspoken Democrat, a woman with a badge approached her, Godfrey recounted in her article for the magazine.
“Her team has asked you to leave,” the woman informed Godfrey, even though she had previously welcomed the reporter into the press area earlier that day, according to Godfrey.
Upon questioning why she was being asked to leave, the woman reportedly explained, “They just said, ‘Elaine from the Atlantic, white girl with a hat and notepad. She’s interviewing people in the crowd. She’s a top-notch hater and will spin. She needs to leave.'”
Godfrey detailed that she was escorted out by four security guards, including at least one who was armed. They led her out of the venue, across the parking lot, and to the edge of a nearby highway, where she then arranged for a ride.
This incident comes after previous tensions between Crockett and Godfrey, who had once written a profile piece on the Texas politician that Crockett unsuccessfully attempted to stop.
The Senate hopefulâs reaction to apparently seeing Godfrey at the event drew mockery across the political spectrum on social media.
âThis is so bad by [Crockett]. Not ready for primetime sort of stuff,â veteran political journalist Chris Cillizza wrote on X.
âIf you think Jasmine Crockett can persuade hundreds of thousands of moderate to conservative Texans to change their voting behavior when she canât even persuade a short liberal white girl reporterâ¦â progressive journalist Zaid Jilani posted on X.
Tommy Vietor, a former Obama staffer and co-host of âPod Save America,â was left incredulous.
âThe Crockett campaign had armed security guards eject an Atlantic reporter from an event??? Why???â Vietor wrote in an X post.
âCrockett looks terrible here,â another user noted.
âImagine how paranoid a Democrat would have to be to think a reporter from [the Atlantic] is a threat,â someone else chimed in, referring to the magazineâs liberal bias.
Crockettâs office did not respond to The Postâs request for comment.
The congresswoman bizarrely told CBS News that there is âno evidenceâ Godfrey was kicked out of her Lubbock campaign event, and wildly claimed that the journalist was previously sued for âdefamationâ and âlost,â which Godfrey denied in her write up.
Crockett leads state lawmaker James Talarico in the Democratic Senate primary in Texas by 3 points, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls.
The primary election is scheduled for March 3.
