U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) was recently approached by independent reporter Nicholas Ballasy concerning her decision to support controversial music artist Chris Brown and appeared to be extremely intoxicated during the encounter. The entirety of the incident was captured on film and later posted on social media.
The footage shows the Texas Democrat sporting a sequined evening gown while attending a formal gathering with blue and purple lighting and banquet-style tables. She was holding the arm of a man wearing a dark colored suit. Crockett turns toward the camera with a strange expression on her face before walking through the room as the camera follows behind.
Commenters on the clip said she looked unsteady or “drunk” and each of the clips that have been posted from the event have garnered hundreds of thousands of views. When Ballasy posted the footage, he framed it as Crockett declining to address the backlash over her September 12 appearance at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
According to Trending News Politics, the stadium was one of the stops on a joint tour of Chris Brown and Usher. During the show Crockett announced there would be a Congressional Record of both artists’ careers. The backlash over the move comes from Brown’s history of violence toward women. In 2009, he was convicted of felony assault involving music star Rihanna, along with later legal cases also containing violence allegations.
Crockett was joined at the concert by state Rep. Venton Jones who later issued an apology for the recognition, though the Texas Congresswoman has remained tight-lipped about the controversy. Crockett, who is the representative for the 30th Congressional District, lost the Democratic Party primary earlier this year for a Senate seat in the Lone Star State.
She was defeated by James Talarico, who now faces off against Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the November midterm election. As of this writing, Crockett has not issued a comment concerning the video or any claims about her condition at the time the footage was taken. This marked the second time this week that the Texas Democrat was under fire.
A video also came out at the beginning of the week from Crockett’s leadership PAC, known as FIRE PAC, featuring a list of 24 endorsements she was giving to other candidates in other political races. However, notably absent from the list was James Talarico. When asked about the omission, Crockett said that she was focusing on down-ballot Texas House and county races instead of campaigning for Talarico.
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It’s worth noting that immediately after her loss to Talarico, Crockett released a statement congratulating him on his primary win and encouraged voters to cast a ballot for him in November. In that same statement, she also said that she would be working toward getting as many Democrats elected as possible in the state of Texas, but would not be joining Talarico on the campaign trail. Some view this as a lack of support and a sign of bitterness over her loss.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video