During a “field hearing” in St. Paul, Minnesota, in January, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, likened President Donald Trump to a domestic abuser as she encouraged Americans to fight back against his authoritarian impulses.
“Y’all we are living with an abuser right now,” she said. “That is who Trump and his administration is frankly. But if you know anything about a domestic abuser, the one thing about them that you need to know is that they are some of the biggest cowards that you will ever find. What they can’t stand is when you actually fight back.”
Chris Brown pleaded guilty in 2009 to felony assault for punching, choking and biting his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, and, since then, has been accused of abuse by at least two more women.
On Saturday, this same lawmaker took the stage at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, to celebrate and praise R&B singer Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty in 2009 to felony assault for punching, choking and biting his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, and, since then, has been accused of abuse by at least two more women. Brown has denied those allegations.
In 2017, a judge granted Brown’s ex-girlfriend, Karreuche Tran, a five-year restraining order after she shared threatening voicemail messages and texts she said Brown left her. Tran also said Brown punched her in her stomach and pushed her down stairs. He’s also been repeatedly booked with violent crimes against nonintimate partners, including a case that ended in July, when he pleaded guilty to a charge from a 2023 brawl at a London nightclub during which he allegedly hit a music producer over the head with a bottle.
“We are here because of Chris Brown,” Crockett said from the stadium stage of the R&B Tour, which Brown is co-headlining with Usher. Crockett was joined by Texas state Rep. Venton Jones, a Democrat from Dallas.
“Right now, we are experiencing Black joy to the highest level, and I wanted to make sure we document that in the Congressional Record,” Crockett said. She then hugged Brown and encouraged concertgoers to enjoy the rest of the show.
The hypocrisy is stunning. If Crockett knows how to use “domestic abuser” as a rhetorical device to criticize Trump, then she should have known just how awful an idea it was for her to admire — and hug — a domestic abuser on stage because of his “extraordinary accomplishments” that have “helped shape contemporary R&B and popular music.”
Because she lost the Democratic primary for a seat in the U.S. Senate this year, Crockett won’t be a member of Congress after January. Even if she’s not running for an office in the short term, though, her unnecessary political stunt should cost the Black woman lawmaker some support and respect from the Democratic Party’s most reliable voting bloc: Black women.
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Black women face higher rates of domestic violence than other populations. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence found that about 45% of Black women have experienced stalking, physical violence and sexual violence in their lifetimes, and approximately 51% of Black women killed in the United States are murdered by an intimate partner.
Not only is it morally wrong, but it’s also bad politics for Crockett to effusively praise a man with such an egregious history.
Retroactively, Jones said on Instagram that he and Crockett taking the stage at the concert was an effective means of mobilizing voters. But neither of them mentioned that midterm elections are less than six weeks away and that, by voting, concertgoers could help Texas elect its first Democratic senator in 38 years. It doesn’t appear that lawmakers partnered with the concert’s promoters to help concert attendees check their voter registration status. They haven’t provided any evidence that they created a platform for those present to ask questions about the issues on the ballot in Texas or give them a means of signing up to volunteer to work the polls or canvass for candidates.
No public interest was served when Crockett and Jones stood beside and applauded a man who has been found to have hurt people, including women.
There was no speech by Brown about the midterms or the importance of being civically engaged. Even if there had been, there’s no evidence that celebrities endorsing politicians moves the political needle. Just ask former Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost the 2024 presidential election even though her well-attended rallies included famous, wealthy speakers, such as Beyoncé and Eminem.
Jones issued an apology Tuesday after he acknowledged that “the women, the Black women, whom my actions hurt,” writing, “To every survivor of domestic and sexual violence, I extend my sincerest apology for the hurt, frustration, and pain my choices caused.” Crockett owes her constituents the same.
We expect our elected officials to be public servants. They are neither influencers nor celebrities, and they have a responsibility to their constituents and the broader voting public. No public interest was served when Crockett and Jones stood beside and applauded a man who has been found to have hurt people, including women.
That’s why Crockett’s appearance with Brown was so disappointing. She’s built a national profile around being unafraid and unapologetic about calling out Trump for his myriad abuses and demanding accountability for his administration’s mishandling of the Epstein files.
And then she squandered the moral authority she’s built by heaping praise upon Brown. She said in January that domestic abusers don’t like it when people fight back. Crockett’s supporters, especially Black women who’ve been abused, must have been left wondering Saturday what happened to her fighting for them?
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