After historic uprisings against racist police brutality last summer, House Democrats introduced a bill to ban chokeholds, prohibit racial and religious profiling, and limit no-knock warrants like the one that resulted in the murder of EMT worker Breonna Taylor last year.
The Bill is called the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, named for the George Floyd whose murder by police sparked a nationwide reckoning of the power bestowed upon law enforcement to kill American citizens—particularly Black Americans—often with little or no accountability.
Republicans have strongly opposed the bill, claiming it's radical and limits the police's ability to do their job.
One such Republican is Congressman Lance Gooden of Texas, but Americans wouldn't have known that if they looked at his initial vote on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed the House this past Wednesday. At first, Gooden was the only Republican in the House to vote yes.
In a now-deleted tweet, Gooden said that his "yes" vote on the bill was a mistake, and that he accidentally pressed the "wrong button."
Gooden wrote:
"I accidentally pressed the wrong voting button and realized it too late. I have changed the official record to reflect my opposition to the partisan George Floyd Policing Act."
After deleting the initial tweet, Gooden posted a photo of his vote change and claimed he was "arguably the most conservative/America First" representative in Congress.
I have arguably the most conservative/America First voting record in Congress! Of course I wouldn’t support the ra… https://t.co/PiMmbEdfpZ— Lance Gooden (@Lance Gooden) 1614827353.0
Gooden certainly hasn't hidden his so-called America First values—his Twitter banner is a photo of him and former President Donald Trump—but that didn't save him from mockery.
People were surprised to see which values made him proud.
@Lancegooden Dude. Look how close you came to not being racist.— David Clay (@David Clay) 1614827710.0
@Lancegooden I’ve never seen anyone so anxious to prove they really are racist.— JT (@JT) 1614828374.0
@Lancegooden Live video when he realized he voted NOT to be a racist. https://t.co/8pUAn0cYAf— Jamie Carter - Pass For The People Act (@Jamie Carter - Pass For The People Act) 1614828767.0
@Lancegooden “ I was almost a good person there for a moment, thank God I caught myself.”— To The Left, Please (@To The Left, Please) 1614832568.0
@Lancegooden I was proud of you...for a second...being the most conservative/America First really isn’t something to be proud of.— Julie (@Julie) 1614863249.0
@Lancegooden Man, that was a close one... almost accidentally looked like a decent human being for a second.— Random Guy (@Random Guy) 1614884715.0
They also took issue with his framing of the bill as "anti-police."
@Lancegooden Accountability is not anti-police. But those like Republican Congressman @Lancegooden who do not beli… https://t.co/8eQVULuQcl— 💥𝐹𝓇𝑒𝒹𝑒𝓇𝒾𝒸𝓀 THE UNION 𝒟𝑜𝓊𝑔𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓈💥 (@💥𝐹𝓇𝑒𝒹𝑒𝓇𝒾𝒸𝓀 THE UNION 𝒟𝑜𝓊𝑔𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓈💥) 1614829427.0
@Lancegooden Calling this act 'anti-police' is like saying you're any-teacher if you support background checks to h… https://t.co/kcOGFAb5AA— Mary Morris - Have faith, vote, regenerate trees. (@Mary Morris - Have faith, vote, regenerate trees.) 1614833557.0
@Lancegooden No morals. Cool.— Bonita AppleBelly (@Bonita AppleBelly) 1614830522.0
The bill now heads to the Senate, where it will need 10 Republicans to support it.