Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) slid into Texas Republican congressional candidate Wesley Hunt's direct messages to continue a social media debate over the implications of Roe v. Wade for interracial marriage, the two men confirmed to the Washington Examiner.

In response to a bombshell leak from the Supreme Court suggesting that a reversal of Roe may be imminent, some proponents of the decision that legalized abortion nationwide argued its reversal may lead to states banning birth control or same-sex and interracial marriage.


FACING LOOMING ROE REVERSAL, SENATE GOP TRIES TO STAY ON MESSAGE ABOUT ECONOMY

Swalwell made that argument in a recent tweet.


Hunt, who is black, replied that the Texas district that nominated him is predominantly white, and he has an interracial marriage and family.

“Republicans are celebrating diversity while white liberals like yourself race-bait,” Hunt wrote.


Swalwell replied that Hunt’s problem should lie with a Republican senator who said that “states should be able to ban interracial marriages like yours.”


Hunt told the Washington Examiner, “I saw that, and as somebody that is in an interracial marriage, that won a Republican primary in a district that is 70% white, with biracial children, I felt like that was utterly ridiculous to accuse, like, an entire party of people of being racist and against biracial marriages. And I called him out on it.”

In a video posted to Instagram, Hunt’s campaign said Swalwell’s comments were “race-baiting.”

Swalwell sent a private message in response to being tagged in the video.

“You’re more pissed at me than the senator who wants to break up your marriage?” Swalwell wrote in a screenshot of the message obtained by the Washington Examiner. “Classic. You’ll fit right in with the GOP.”

Swalwell confirmed he sent the private message in response to being tagged in the video on Instagram.

“He has not responded, and I’m not surprised,” Swalwell told the Washington Examiner. “How would you respond to that? Hunt is either lying to himself about what a GOP senator proposed and what it would mean for his family, or he’s too afraid to confront it.”

Hunt said, “I've been black my entire life” and that he felt he was being lectured by a white man on race.

“The first thing I would say to him is this: Be very careful with how you speak about racial issues when speaking with people of color,” Hunt said. “Just because you're a white man, that doesn't mean that you know more about this than me because you've never been black a day in your life. And I would like to think you would give me the benefit of the doubt as to how I can think for myself, given my own personal set of experiences.”

Swalwell said his tweet and message referenced March comments by Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), who said in a discussion with local reporters that the Supreme Court should have left the matter of interracial marriage to the states to legislate. The high court legalized interracial marriage nationwide in Loving v. Virginia in 1967 by striking down state laws banning it.

“I think that that's something, if you're not wanting the Supreme Court to weigh in on issues like that, you're not going to be able to have your cake and eat it too,” Braun said in March. “I think that's hypocritical."

Braun later walked back his comments, saying in a statement that he “misunderstood a line of questioning” and that “there is no question the Constitution prohibits discrimination of any kind based on race.”

Hunt argued Braun was “put in a really bad position and articulated himself not in the best way.”

“But his whole point was that all of these issues are states' rights issues. It should not be controlled by the federal government,” Hunt said. “So let's just say in a crazy world, the federal government overturned interracial marriage and sent it back to the states, no state is going to overturn interracial marriage. It's a complete farce. It's a complete joke. They're trying to gaslight the Left to think that we're racist, and we're not.”

But Swalwell argued Braun is “not alone,” saying comparable arguments about interracial marriage are gaining traction in GOP circles.

“It’s easy to attack me,” Swalwell said. “It’s harder to show courage in the GOP. So, it looks like he’ll fit right in with Kevin McCarthy and the other cowards.”

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Hunt predicted, “We're going to have an extremely good African American turnout for the Republican Party this year,” arguing the party is focused on issues such as unemployment and rising consumer costs.