BREAKING: Rep. Daryl Metcalfe Defends White Nationalist

(HARRISBURG, PA - September 24, 2015)— Following a hearing on an "English-only" bill in the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee, it was reported today that Committee Chairman Daryl Metcalfe (R-Cranberry Township) invited a known white nationalist, Robert "Bob" Vandervoort, to testify on the bill.

When confronted via email by Rep. Leslie Acosta (D-Philadelphia) — Pennsylvania's first-ever Latina state representative — Metcalfe shocked colleagues with the following response:

"The comments that she made about some alleged white supremacist being in our meeting was outrageous," Metcalfe said.

"It was an email put out alleging that somebody was a white nationalist, which is quite a bit different from a white supremacist. To say somebody is a nationalist and for the independence of their country and a patriot to defending their country, is a lot different from saying somebody is a racist."

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which has identified Vandervoort as a white nationalist, makes clear that "white nationalist" and "white supremacist" are used interchangeably.

The SPLC states that "white nationalist" groups, "espouse white supremacist or white separatist ideologies, often focusing on the alleged inferiority of nonwhites."

The controversy comes on the heals of a combative Metcalfe cutting Rep. Acosta's microphone during yesterday's hearing as she made an argument about the bill before asking the witness her question.

The video of the exchange is available here via Raging Chicken Press.

Michael Morrill, Executive Director of Keystone Progress, made the following statement about Metcalfe's comments:

"We have come to expect shocking comments and combative behavior from Representative Metcalfe, but defending a white nationalist is crossing the line. You know when you're trying to split hairs and draw distinctions between white supremacists and white nationalists, you have much bigger problems than trying to win that particular argument. Daryl Metcalfe is a disgrace, and today's bigoted comments are further proof that he has no place as a distinguished state representative."