GOP Rep. Has Testy Exchange With Prof: ‘I’ll Call

GOP Rep. Has Testy Exchange With Prof: ‘I’ll Call You Anything I Want to Call You’


If you ever get into an argument with Alaska GOP Rep. Don Young, he could reserve the right to call you whatever he wants to call you. At least that’s the position he took with Rice University professor Doug Brinkley at a hearing on Friday.

The exchange occurred during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing regarding the possible effects of drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

HuffPo details what happened:

Young addressed Brinkley as “Dr. Rice“ and called his testimony ”garbage.” Brinkley replied, “[It's] Dr. Brinkley. Rice is a university. I know you went to Yuba College and you couldn’t graduate.”

“I’ll call you anything I want to call you when you sit in that chair. You just be quiet,” Young quipped.

“You don’t own me,” Brinkley shot back. “I pay your salary.”

Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA) then stepped in and got into an argument with Brinkley about proper decorum.

You can watch it unfold below:

Young eventually admitted his mistake. But for the record, Seattlepi.com reports, “After a stint in the Army, Young eventually did get through Yuba Community College in California and went on to graduate from Chico State College.”

Young does, however, have a history of controversy. Not only did he once brandish a oosik (Walrus penis) at Mollie Beatty, the first woman to head the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but he also championed the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.”