DOWNSTATE CONGRESSMAN COMPARES TOWN HALLS TO ‘ CLEANSING’ BY ‘ ORIENTALS’

CARBONDALE, Ill. — A downstate Illinois congressman compared town hall meetings to the practice of “cleansing” by “Orientals.”

Republican Rep. Mike Bost made the assertion during a meeting with the editorial board of the Southern Illinoisan in Carbondale.

Bost visited his 12th District last week, hosting a tele- town hall instead of an in- person one.

“The amount of time that I have at home is minimal, I need to make sure that it’s productive,” Bost told the editorial board. “You know the cleansing that the Orientals used to do where you’d put one person out in front and 900 people yell at them? That’s not what we need. We need to have meetings with people that are productive.”

In a statement Thursday, Bost said he “used a poor choice of words” in describing “coordinated disruptions” he says are taking place across the country.

Bost spokesman George O’Connor said Bost’s use of Orientals was a reference to sessions during China’s Cultural Revolution when individuals were publicly humiliated and subjected to verbal abuse by a crowd.

“While there was no malicious intent, I regret that my words may have distracted from an important point,” Bost said. “When the booing and shouting drowns out the conversation we’re trying to have with our constituents, it becomes that much harder to govern.”

Bost described the town halls as “out of control, which means you don’t actually get to talk to people and listen, and we’re looking for ways to do that.”

In 2012, as a state representative, Bost screamed profanities and referenced the Bible during a tirade directed at powerful House Speaker Mike Madigan. The outburst came as House members prepared to vote on a contentious pension bill.