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Louisiana Representative Cedric Richmond is being criticized after recent remarks made about Counselor to President Donald Trump Kellyanne Conway.
At the annual Washington Press Club Foundation congressional dinner, Richmond said Conway looked “familiar” in a kneeling position on a sofa in the Oval Office.
Richmond said:
“You even mentioned Kellyanne and the picture on the sofa. But I really just want to know what was going on there, because, I won't tell anybody. And you can just explain to me that — that circumstance, because she really looked kind of familiar there in that position there. But don't answer. And I don't want you to refer back to the ’90s.”
A photo earlier in the week showed Conway kneeling on the sofa taking a cellphone photograph.
The photo sparked a debate about decorum in the Oval Office, implying that Conway having her feet on the sofa is disrespectful.
Conway has said she was kneeling because she was asked to take the photo at a specific angle.
Republican Party officials have blasted Richmond for his remarks calling them sexist.
“Yesterday Congressman Cedric Richmond made a deeply offensive remark regarding Kellyanne Conway, and he owes her a sincere and prompt apology. Using inappropriate sexual innuendos to demean women is sexism at it’s worse. (sic)
“Given that March is Women’s History Month, Congressman Richmond’s remarks about the first woman to successfully manage a US presidential campaign are especially disgusting.
“We’d hope that Governor John Bel Edwards and LA Democrat Chairwoman Karen Carter Peterson will join us in demanding Congressman Richmond apologize immediately.”
Richmond’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.