Rep. Jamaal Bowman's office literally accuses GOP of harboring 'Nazi members' to distract from fire alarm scandal

The office of Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) is accusing House Republicans of harboring "Nazi members" to distract from Bowman's fire alarm scandal.

After Bowman activated the fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building on Saturday — presumably in an effort to delay a vote on a spending package to avert a government shutdown — Bowman's office circulated talking points to other House Democrats.

The talking points were designed for Democrats to protect Bowman and turn attention to Republicans.

The talking points claim Bowman, in pulling the firearm, was just "trying to do his job," claim Republican outrage is meant to distract from "January 6th insurrectionists," blame "confusing" signs in the House office building for the incident, and claim Bowman was in a rush because Republicans gave Democrats just 15 minutes to get to the House floor before holding a vote.

The memo also included the following talking points:

• "I believe Congressman Bowman when he says this was an accident. Republicans need to instead focus their energy on the Nazi members of their party before anything else."
• "There are multiple insurrectionist supporters in Congress and more who supported a coup and support Trump's Big Lie. That's what they should be focused on. Instead their focus on Rep. Bowman is an attempt to minimize January 6th."
• "House Republicans are obviously trying to distract from the fact they cannot govern and that they nearly shut down the federal government for no reason."
• "The alarm going off didn't interrupt our business on the floor today in the slightest."

Bowman claims he activated the fire alarm when he meant to open a door. Surveillance footage, however, clearly shows Bowman pulling the fire alarm while facing away from an emergency door.

Veteran Capitol Hill reporter Jake Sherman poked holes through Bowman's excuse, noting that it "makes no sense" for "those who work on Capitol Hill — or even those who don't."

First, Sherman asked, "[H]ave you in your life ever activated a fire alarm in a large public building to open a door?" Second, he noted that "there are tunnels that take you from [the Cannon House Office Building] straight to the Capitol. It's very easy. I do it daily."

On Monday, Bowman expressed confusion as to why his actions have received significant backlash.

"I don’t know why this has gotten so much attention," Bowman said. "I was literally just in a rush to go vote, man! That's all it was!"

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