North Carolina's Senate Democratic leader is defending a social media video that takes aim at Republicans.
In it, state Sen. Sydney Batch, the top Democrat in the chamber, expresses outrage over the state budget stalemate. The video occasionally includes self-censoring in the form of bleeps over what appear to be expletives.
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The two-minute video mimics a sketch from the TV show "Key & Peele," showing Batch acting as an "anger interpreter" for state Rep. Vernetta Alston, D-Durham. It was posted on Alston's Facebook page.
The two criticize Republican legislative leaders for failing to pass a comprehensive state budget.
"Instead of doing their jobs, Republicans are acting like a bunch of little ******* because they can't deliver a budget," Batch says in one part of the video, with a bleep over one word.
State lawmakers haven’t passed a new budget for more than a year now, causing state workers to go without raises and construction projects to go unfunded. Top lawmakers have indicated progress on major sticking points, adding that they expect to present a budget in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, the video featuring Batch and Alston has drawn pushback from Republicans.
House Majority Leader Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, called on Democrats in the House to discipline Alston and others involved in the video.
"I am deeply disappointed to see members of Democratic leadership conduct themselves so unprofessionally in a public video," Jones said in a statement.
The House has limited options to discipline Batch, D-Wake, since she is a Senator. Republican Senate leader Phil Berger can implement disciplinary action.
When asked about the video this week, Berger said he hadn’t seen it, had no plans to watch it, and wasn’t interested in what Batch said.
"It just seems, to me, like a distraction," Berger, R-Rockingham, told reporters this week. "I'm glad she had something to do."
After Jones called for discipline to be meted out over the video, the Legislative Black Caucus — a group of Black Democratic lawmakers from the House and Senate — issued a statement calling Republicans racist, and saying that’s what motivated their anger over the video. Batch and Alston are Black.
“We have watched them display their blatant racism through shameful policies like their anti-DEI agenda — and no one tells them to pipe down,” Black Caucus chairwoman Sen. Kandie Smith, D-Pitt, wrote. “But the moment a Black woman speaks plainly about the catastrophic failures of their one-party rule, then suddenly, they're clutching pearls. This is not a question about language. This is about who is allowed to be angry, who is allowed to speak the truth, and who is expected to stay quiet.”
A spokesperson for House Speaker Destin Hall referred a request for comment to Jones, who didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the Black Caucus' accusations.
During a news conference this week, Batch doubled down on the post.
"They want to distract from words I choose to use in satire,” she said. “It’s really disappointing given the fact that they literally bend over and shake hands with and applaud a president who has, not in satire, said some of the most offensive things in this country.”
