Politics
GOP Congressman Says ‘OK Boomer’ To Top Trump Advisor’s Marijuana Opposition
One of President Trump’s closest allies in Congress is clapping back against a top White House official’s opposition to marijuana legalization, and he’s using a popular meme to do it.
Asked about Kellyanne Conway’s comments about increasing cannabis potency and its “effect on the brain,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) replied, “OK boomer. That’s a very boomer approach to marijuana.”
“Her reflection shows a real ignorance to the science demonstrating that in states where there are marijuana programs you see a reduction in Schedule I drug recommendations,” Gaetz said during a CNN interview on Saturday. “You also see a reduction in the types of overdoses that are crippling our country and hollowing out America. If we have a lower acuity anti-pain alternative to heroin and opioids, I think that you’ll see the country do a lot better.”
The GOP congressman also called out Conway, a counselor to the president, for incorrectly saying “TCH” instead of THC during her earlier CNN appearance, and pointed out that polling shows vast support for marijuana legalization except among only the oldest demographic.
“This is not an issue that young people are fighting about,” he said. “This is largely generational more than it is partisan because I think more and more young people in the country are saying, ‘let’s just go ahead and let people live better live with a more natural alternative that has a lower propensity for addiction.'”
“Federal prohibition against marijuana has not worked,” GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz tells @smerconish after the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would decriminalize marijuana on the federal level, adding that he’d tell Kellyanne Conway “OK boomer” over her views. pic.twitter.com/4CQAVHaHwC
— CNN (@CNN) November 23, 2019
Trump, for his part, said during the 2016 campaign that while he personally opposes legalization, be backs medical cannabis and supports states’ rights to set their own marijuana policies. While his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, rescinded Obama-era guidance that told prosecutors to generally not interfere with local cannabis laws, the president later expressed support for pending congressional legislation to shield state-compliant marijuana activity from federal enforcement.
Gatez, who was one of just two Republicans to join Democrats in voting to advance marijuana descheduling legislation through the House Judiciary Committee earlier this week, said that while he has “worked to be a positive influence” on the president when it comes to cannabis, Trump “made commitments about medical marijuana in his 2016 campaign that we still need to fulfill.”
A vast majority of the country wants to see sensible marijuana reform. pic.twitter.com/cKLvy95mKv
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) November 24, 2019
Intraparty squabbles on cannabis aren’t limited to Republicans, however. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), issued an on-stage call out of former Vice President Joe Biden’s opposition to marijuana legalization during a Democratic presidential debate this week.
“This week I hear [Biden] literally say that I don’t think we should legalize marijuana,” Booker said. “I thought you might’ve been high when you said it.”
Cory Booker Slams Joe Biden’s Marijuana Legalization Opposition At Debate
Photo courtesy of Meredith Geddings.
