{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://adams.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/black-caucus-women-demand-apology-kelly-after-rep-wilson-insults", "Black Caucus Women Demand Apology From Kelly After Rep. Wilson Insults", "2017-10-24", "2017", "2017-10", "Democrat", "House", "NC", "Alma Adams", "A000370", "adams.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "At least 17 female members of the Congressional Black Caucus are demanding that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly apologize for making inaccurate statements about Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) after she stood up for the family of a fallen soldier who felt \u201cdisrespected\u201d by President Trump.\n\u201cGeneral Kelly\u2019s comments are reprehensible. Congresswoman Wilson\u2019s integrity and credibility should not be challenged or undermined by such blatant lies. We, the women of the Congressional Black Caucus, proudly stand with Congresswoman Wilson and demand that General Kelly apologize to her without delay and take responsibility for his reckless and false statements,\u201d the members wrote in a statement released Sunday.\nThe demand comes after Wilson told reporters about what Trump said to a grieving widow of one of the soldiers who was killed in Niger earlier this month. According to Wilson \u2014 and now even the widow, who has since spoken out \u2014 Trump told Myeshia Johnson on Tuesday that her husband \u201cknew what he was signing up for.\u201d\nTrump pushed back on Wilson\u2019s claims, tweeting that the congresswoman \u201cfabricated\u201d the story, which lead to several public back-and-forth insults between Trump and Wilson last week.\nKelly, who himself became a Gold Star family member after his son was killed in Afghanistan in 2010, spoke to reporters Thursday and defended the President. Kelly said he counseled Trump on how to address families of the fallen.\nHe also lashed out against Wilson for \u201clistening in\u201d on Trump\u2019s call with Johnson and claimed she bragged about securing funding for a new FBI building in Florida \u2014 named in honor of two fall agents \u2014 at its dedication in 2015. A video of Wilson\u2019s dedication speech released by the South Florida Sun Sentinel confirms that Wilson did not say what Kelly claimed she did.\n\u201cHe needs to apologize. First of all, he was in error, he did not tell the truth. He knows now that he did not tell the truth, even if he thought he had told it, so he owes her an apology,\u201d Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) said on CNN Monday. \u201cTalking about a member of Congress who has done great work, she serves her constituents. She has served at the local level, at the state level and now she\u2019s in Congress, and she\u2019s doing a tremendous job. For him to try to demean her character and her integrity in this way is absolutely unacceptable.\u201d\nRep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) took her frustrations with Kelly one step further, saying the entire White House and administration should issue an apology for Trump\u2019s \u201cwacky insults.\u201d\n\u201cGeneral Kelly is a Gold Star member and he has the right to speak about his loss and he did eloquently and I\u2019m sure he brought many to tears, but then he had to defend his boss,\u201d she said on CNN. \u201cHis boss is President Trump, who has continued to throw wacky insults, and as an African American woman, I\u2019m not going to stand for it, period.\u201d\nJackson Lee said the continued insults from Trump and Kelly \u201cputs everyone in the barrel,\u201d referencing Kelly\u2019s remarks when he called Wilson an \u201cempty barrel.\u201d\n\u201cCongresswoman Wilson deserves an apology, the President owes her an apology. The military owes the United States Congress, the House of Representatives, a full classified briefing on the actions of the Africa command in that region. We can\u2019t go any longer without knowing what\u2019s going on,\u201d she said.\nThe White House did not immediately respond to TPM\u2019s requests for comment on whether Kelly intends to apologize. At a press briefing last week, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that it would be \u201chighly inappropriate\u201d to \u201cget into a debate with a four-star Marine general\u201d after reporters asked about the video that contradicts Kelly\u2019s comments.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://adams.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/black-caucus-women-demand-apology-kelly-after-rep-wilson-insults"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8547469042241573, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}