Yavapai News

During a May 16 Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Accountability hearing titled "Mostly Peaceful: Countering Left-Wing Organized Violence," U.S. Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) said obsessing over white supremacy is taking time and resources away from serious issues like fentanyl-related deaths.

"I don’t know a single member that doesn’t think white supremacy is disgusting. But Democrats are playing a dangerous game by continually overstating its threat, shifting the focus from massive, widespread threats like fentanyl deaths, terrorist infiltration and trafficking," Crane wrote in a May 16 tweet. 

During the hearing, Crane, who is a member of the subcommittee, asked one of the witnesses, Scott Erickson, a policy analyst and law enforcement professional, whether he agreed with a statement made by one of the other witnesses, Amy Spitalnick, the incoming CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. Spitalnick had said in a tweet that white supremacy is "the most dangerous terror threat."

Erickson said he disagreed with that statement, adding that "The global view of threats that we face in this country is much larger than the domestic extremism that we're talking about today."

Crane then asked another one of the witnesses, Julio Rosas, a senior writer for Townhall, whether he agreed with Spitalnick's claim about white supremacy.

Rosas said, "I would agree with Mr. Erickson. Just globally there's a lot of bad people out there that want to hurt us, and I would also just say that here, like in the District, just walking down the street, with homicides being up 7% and along with other crimes being up, I wouldn't be stabbed or carjacked or shot by -- statistically -- by a white guy in a red hat screaming 'This is MAGA country.'"

Crane thanked the witnesses and said, "White supremacy is disgusting. It's disgusting." He said that although his views differ from those of some of his Democrat colleagues, he still views them as "brothers and sisters." 

"That being said, you guys are playing a very dangerous game by continually overstating the threat of white supremacy when there are massive threats. It's not white supremacists that are killing tens of thousands of our children in pill form called fentanyl. It's not white supremacy that is storming over our southern border right now. It's not white supremacy that's trafficking sex slaves into this country at record numbers," Crane said.

Crane is a former Navy SEAL serving his first term in Congress, according to the bio page on his website.