WASHINGTON — Democrats are doubling down on calls to oust Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Republican running to defend her vulnerable seat in Virginia this fall, after she seemed to agree with a conservative radio host’s racist description of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Kiggans, who denies agreeing with the comment, on Monday appeared on Richmond’s Morning News where host Rich Herrera, as part of a broader point about Jeffries, D-N.Y., staying out of Virginia politics, described the first Black American to lead a party in Congress as having “cotton-picking hands.”

“If Hakeem Jeffries wants to be involved in Virginia politics, then I suggest he does what a bunch of New Yorkers are doing,” Herrera said. “Leave New York, move down here to Virginia. Run for office down here — you can represent us. If not, get your cotton-picking hands off of Virginia.”

Kiggans replied: “That’s right. Ditto. Yes to that.”

Kiggans said in a statement that she was not agreeing with the racist language but with the point that Jeffries should stay out of Virginia. “The radio host should not have used that language and I do not — and did not — condone it,” she wrote.

As of Tuesday morning, the interview was not available on Apple Podcasts and was not able to be streamed on Herrera’s website. A clip of the interaction has been circulating on Democrat-affiliated social media accounts since Monday.

Virginia’s 2nd District, which encompasses the cities of Virginia Beach and Suffolk and relatively rural communities along the North Carolina border and Virginia’s Eastern Shore, is majority white with a roughly 23% Black population. Kiggans won her race in 2024 by about 4 points, and President Donald Trump carried the district by just 0.2 points.

Jeffries didn’t buy Kiggans’ explanation.

“Jen Kiggans had her chance to disavow the vile, racist and dehumanizing comments from far-right talk show host Rich Herrera. Instead, she doubled down,” Jeffries’ spokesperson Christie Stephenson said in a statement Tuesday. “It was a stunning failure of judgment and leadership for a so-called moderate Member of Congress representing a large, vibrant African American community in Virginia.”

The spokesperson notably fell short of calling for her resignation, instead warning that voters will “hold her accountable” in November. But other Democrats, including Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., aren’t so patient.

“First they gutted the Voting Rights Act. Now they are using brazenly racist language to attack Black leaders. (Kiggans) should immediately apologize and resign,” Clark wrote on social media.

“Did (Kiggans) hear what he said? Yes. Did she agree with him? Yes. Is this racist? Yes. Should she resign? Yes to that, too,” the Congressional Black Caucus posted Monday.

Kiggans’ office did not respond to a request for further comment.

The episode comes after Democrats were dealt a disappointing blow in Virginia last week, as the state Supreme Court invalidated a voter-passed ballot measure for a new congressional map that would have helped them target several Republican-held seats, including Kiggans’.

If the past is any indication, Democrats’ calls for resignation aren’t likely to go anywhere.

Democrats earlier this year called for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to punish Reps. Randy Fine, R-Fla., and Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., for a suite of anti-Muslim comments they posted online.

Fine in February made a post where he implied dogs were preferable over Muslims and doubled down on it. Ogles posted in March: “Muslims don’t belong in American society. Pluralism is a lie.” Despite the calls, both lawmakers remain in Congress and have not faced any official consequences.

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