Pelosi, Democrat leaders mocked for African 'cultural appropriation' photo op

Democrats came under fire on Monday when they took a knee while wearing a kente cloth in an effort to apparently show solidarity with the black community over the wrongful death of George Floyd. However, this tactic of unity backfired, according to The Daily Wire.

House Speaker Nanci Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, and other significant Democrats took a knee at Capitol Hill while wearing a kente cloth, which is used in Ghana, where people wear it to show patriotism or celebrate a special occasion.

While the photo-op was meant to be a show of support for the Black Lives Matter movement, it was the black community that both mocked and ridiculed the Democrats for the tone-deaf political stunt.

Army combat veteran Jeffrey A Dove Jr., a Republican running in Virginia's 10th Congressional District, took to Twitter, saying, "Does wearing kente cloth and taking a knee mean you are all of a sudden ‘down with the struggle’? This is why people hate disingenuous politicians. Speaker Pelosi was there for the 94 crime bill. She is part of the problem.”

The Washington Post Global Opinions Editor Karen Attiah asked "I look at this and think, who is the audience for this performance? Why was this necessary?"

It is not clear how Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats who took part in this photo-op came to the conclusion that wearing a traditional scarf from an African nation was going to calm the waters of this tense time in the US.

Obianuju Ekeocha also decided to respond to the stunt in a video posted to Twitter, saying it was shameful and ignorant to use the kente cloth as a prop to virtue signal.

Others have also taken a similar approach in pointing out the absurdity of a stunt like this.

One user wrote "The image of Nancy Pelosi kneeling wearing a kente cloth is so woke that it actually feels racist."

Another said: "I'm Black and I don't even own that thing on their necks that supposedly represents Blackness. Also, I hate how Democrats always pretend that they have never had a chance to fix USA when they've been in government too."

Charlie Kirk was another who pointed out that this could should be condemned as cultural appropriation, tweeting: "How is it not "cultural appropriation" for Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, & Jerrold Nadler to show up to the Capitol wearing West African "Kente Cloth".

The publicity stunt has been widely condemned from people on both sides of the aisle, which has now resulted in Democrats even abandoning and ridiculing their own politicians.