Democrat Sean Maloney Accuses Republican Mike Turner Of ‘Epic Mansplaining’ During Fiona Hill Testimony

Democrat Rep. Sean Maloney took issue with his Republican colleague Republican Rep. Mike Turner. On Thursday, Maloney called Turner out over his questioning of former National Security Advisor Fiona Hill during the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

Maloney, a New York Democrat, began his time by entering several news articles into the congressional record. Following this, Maloney thanked Hill for her testimony before he quickly directed ire toward his Republican colleague.

“Dr. Hill, first of all, I thought that was some epic mansplaining that you were forced to endure, by my colleague, Mr. Turner,” Maloney said. “I want you to know some of us think it was inappropriate, but I appreciate your forbearance.”

Not all were keen on Maloney’s attack on Hill. BuzzFeed News reporter Miriam Elder noted that immediately following his remark, Maloney himself seemed to interrupt Hill when she attempted to answer his own questions.

Although she remained seemingly expressionless when Maloney made the remake, Hill seemed to let out a slight chuckle at the notion of Turner’s alleged “epic mansplaining.”

Turner spent about four minutes speaking to Hill without asking a question, at one point rhetorically posing a question — seemingly to the entire room — asking if they wanted to be viewed as a “laughing stock” for attempting to impeach a president because he did not take a meeting.

Maloney apologizing for “epic mansplaining” by others and then interrupting her himself is peak #notallmen-ism.

— Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder) November 21, 2019

Following Turner’s ranting toward Hill, her lawyer chimed in to ask whether the Ohio Republican had a question to ask her. Turner immediately began to direct his comments toward U.S. Embassy official David Holmes, who testified Thursday alongside Hill, which drew laughter from the audience and seemingly a small laugh from Turner himself.

.@RepSeanMaloney apologizes to Hill for Mike Turner's "epic mansplaining" pic.twitter.com/3E2VGJfNUZ

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 21, 2019

Per NBC News, Turner’s speech was not the only instance where a Republican lawmaker delivered an impassioned rant during the testimony. Another Ohio Republican, Rep. Brad Wenstrup, claimed that he believed Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election and accused Democrats of attempting to lead a coup. Wenstrup then went on to complain of partisan behaviors.

Before Hill could respond, Turner and his Republican colleague Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas had seemingly left the hearing, which Hill called “unfortunate” before addressing Wenstrup’s accusations against partisanship.

“All of us who came here under a legal obligation also felt we had a moral obligation to do so. We came here as fact witnesses,” she said. “We are here to relate to you what we saw, what we heard and what we did and to be of some help to all of you to make a momentous decision here. We are not the people who make that decision.”