Missouri Lawmaker Responds to Viral Video in Most Embarrassing Way Possible

On Friday, April 14, video of Representative Ian Mackey (D-St. Louis County) taking to task Representative Chuck Basye (R-Boone County) in the Missouri Statehouse went viral on TikTok and Twitter. The House was debating an amendment to an elections bill that would allow school boards to call for votes on whether or not transgender women can play on all-female teams.

Basye had previously made remarks that his brother had been afraid to tell him that he was gay. Mackey begins his speech by reminding Basye of these remarks.

“Why do you think he thought that?” Mackey asks.

“I don’t know,” Basye replies.

“Can I tell you that if I were your brother, I would have been afraid to tell you, too?” Mackey says. A clearly surprised Basye starts to mutter out an apology. “I would have been afraid to tell you, too, because of stuff like this. Because this is what you’re focused on. This is the legislation you want to put forward.”

Meanwhile, in Missouri, State Representative @IanMack03007724 gives one of the most powerful speeches I have ever heard.

Turn on the volume. You want this timeline cleanse.pic.twitter.com/IPaxHtEJyH

— Lindsey Simmons (@LynzforCongress) April 15, 2022

A clearly impassioned Mackey doesn’t wait as Basye tries to interrupt. “I was afraid of people like you growing up. I grew up in Hickory County, Missouri. I grew up in a school district that would vote tomorrow to put this in place. And for 18 years, I walked around with nice people like you who took me to ball games, who told me how smart I was and then went to the ballot and voted for crap like this.

“I couldn’t wait to get out. I couldn’t wait to move to a part of our state that would reject this stuff in a minute. I couldn’t wait. And thank God I made it. And I think every day of the kids who are still there. Who haven’t made it out. Who haven’t escaped from this kind of bigotry. Gentlemen, I’m not afraid of you anymore because you’re going to lose. You may win this today, but you’re going to lose.”

The video garnered more than 5 million views over the weekend. “This is [a] wonderful way to start the weekend,” wrote Glenn Kirschner of NBC News and MSNBC on Twitter on Friday. “Not to mention a wonderful way to refocus America on democracy, empathy and respect for one another. I agree with state rep @IanMack03007724. Hate will lose. Because we’ll defeat it.”

Here’s the email I sent to Chuck Bayse’s office and his personal response. I’ll let you decide if this is the type of person you think should be making laws in Missouri. pic.twitter.com/SQmBYACzQr

— Jeremy Danner (@Jeremy_Danner) April 18, 2022

In the end, though, the amendment passed.

Despite winning the day, Basye was still trying to save face and posted an image of him smoking a cigar over a plate of processed meat to Facebook. “This is me worrying about all the snowflakes that think Ian Mackey is relevant!”

In reply to someone’s comment, Basye continues: “Ian is a man I think, but I’ll need to check on a few pronouns before I can certify!”

Many were appalled at this behavior from an elected official. Jeremy Danner, a rep for 4 Hands Brewing in Kansas City, reached out to Basye to ask about the juvenile language. “Well, you’d get your answer if you listen [sic] to the entire 3+ hour debate on the amendment,” Basye wrote back. Adding “you cannot establish any facts unless you hear what democrats called me on the House floor. Besides, Let’s Go Brandon!!”

In another public post, Basye claimed that Democrats called him a Nazi, misogynist, and supporter of sexual assault and abuse during the debate. Though he also reiterated that it didn't bother him.  "I went home afterwards, enjoyed a delicious glass of Maker's 46 Bourbon then laid down and slept like a baby!!"

Here’s more fun from Chuck’s official state email account. pic.twitter.com/S1TpAanUKH

— Jeremy Danner (@Jeremy_Danner) April 18, 2022

To further prove how unbothered he was by critique, Basye called Danner. On the phone. “Chuck just called me and it was the wildest 11 minutes of my life,” Danner wrote on Twitter. Danner claims Basye said, “I don’t get [transgender] people at all. Isn’t it great that they can live in America and do that kind of stuff? Where if they were in Iran or North Korea or Russia they’d be slaughtered. They’d be killed just for doing that.”

Danner told Basye that he was the scariest person he’d ever spoken with on the phone. “Great. I’m glad,” Basye replied. “I love to be scary. I’m a Marine Corps veteran, and I love it. And I really don’t give a fuck what you think, Jeremy.”

“I asked, ‘why have you spent 10 minutes talking to me if you don’t give a fuck, dude?’” Danner says he countered. “And then Chuck hung up on me.”

Danner then shared these quotes with Basye’s team, and Basye himself replied, “you must’ve recorded the call, because that is spot on, sweetheart!”

The good news? Basye is term limited and will be out of office in 2023.

Update 10:49 a.m.: Images in this story were updated to embed relevant tweets.

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