Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, a rising star within the Democratic Party, found herself at the center of a political and cultural firestorm this week after a series of racially charged and personal attacks from prominent conservative figures. The controversy, which unfolded over several days in early August 2025, has drawn sharp lines between supporters and critics, thrusting issues of race, gender, and political discourse into the national spotlight.
The latest round of vitriol began on Thursday, August 7, when Republican political activist Laura Loomer publicly insulted Rep. Crockett on the social media platform X. Loomer, known for her far-right activism and incendiary rhetoric, quoted a post referencing allegations about Crockett’s treatment of her staff. Seizing on the moment, Loomer wrote, “Why are people surprised? This is typical DEI Shaniqua behavior.” The term “Shaniqua,” as reported by The Huffington Post and others, is widely recognized as a racially loaded stereotype often used to demean Black women. Loomer didn’t stop there. In a follow-up post, she tagged Crockett directly, stating, “In the dictionary next to the word Shaniqua is a photo of Jasmine Crockett.”
The backlash on social media was swift and pointed. Users rallied to Crockett’s defense, condemning Loomer’s language as overtly racist. “Please sit your racist behind down,” one user replied. Another commented, “If you have so much merit why haven’t you gotten a White House job yet??” The episode quickly became a flashpoint in ongoing debates about race and representation in American politics.
But the attacks on Crockett were not isolated to Loomer’s social media posts. Just two days earlier, on Tuesday, August 5, former President Donald Trump took aim at Crockett during a CNBC interview. Trump, no stranger to inflammatory remarks, questioned Crockett’s intelligence and heritage. “The Democrat Party is self-destructing,” he declared. “I mean, when you have low-IQ people like [Jasmine] Crockett... I wonder if she’s any relation to the late, great Davy Crockett, who is a great, great, a great gentleman. I wonder if she’s got any relationship to Davy Crockett, the great old Davy Crockett.”
Crockett, for her part, responded with characteristic poise during a CNN interview the following day. “Trump has nothing of substance to contribute when it comes to critiquing me,” she said, dismissing the former president’s comments as baseless and unproductive.
The criticisms didn’t end with Loomer and Trump. On Saturday, August 9, Kellyanne Conway, former senior counsel to Trump and now a Fox News contributor, leveraged a New York Post report labeling Crockett as “toxic” to further her own critique. Appearing on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Conway said, “She’s not normal. I think she’s performative.” According to Fox News, Conway argued that Crockett “is safe in what she says because she’s in a safe seat” in Texas, linking the congresswoman’s outspokenness to the effects of gerrymandering. “There’s no incentive to pass legislation, to talk to anybody on the other side of the aisle,” Conway continued, suggesting that such political security breeds division rather than cooperation.
Conway also seized on the allegations from the New York Post report, which cited three unidentified former staffers who accused Crockett of mistreating her staff. “It’s always someone like this who’s screaming feminism and equal rights and ‘We are women hear us roar’ who treat their own female staffers like the help,” Conway asserted. The report was published just days after Crockett had emphasized the need to be “aggressive” in political battles against Republican opponents, a stance that aligns with her reputation for directness and combative rhetoric.
In fact, a July 2025 profile of Crockett in The Atlantic highlighted her willingness to embrace a “coarser, insult comedy-style attack” approach, a tactic more commonly associated with GOP figures in the Trump era. The article observed that “the forthrightness her supporters love might undermine her relationships within the party,” raising questions about the risks and rewards of such a strategy. Crockett herself was quoted as saying, “I don’t second-guess s–t,” underscoring her unapologetic style.
Conway’s criticisms extended beyond policy or workplace allegations. She accused Crockett of being “always reaching for this alliterative soundbyte,” and mocked her for reading from a teleprompter during major political events—a practice widely adopted by politicians across both parties since the 1950s. In a pointed jab, Conway said, “She’s admitting that she’s in it for the performance.” She also ridiculed Crockett’s defense of herself, noting, “Instead of quoting great world leaders in history — or even the Bible, for that matter — she quotes Beyoncé.”
Meanwhile, the broader political context in Texas added fuel to the fire. During the same week, 51 Texas Democratic lawmakers left the state in a dramatic move to block a Republican-led effort to redraw the state’s districting map. This high-stakes standoff brought additional scrutiny to Texas’s political climate and the increasingly combative tone between the parties.
For Crockett, the recent attacks are just the latest in a string of confrontations with GOP figures and conservative media. She has consistently faced racist comments and personal insults from Trump supporters online, but none of it appears to have slowed her momentum or dimmed her willingness to stand her ground. Her supporters argue that such attacks only highlight the challenges faced by outspoken Black women in public life, and that Crockett’s resilience is both a personal and political asset.
Yet, her critics insist that her approach is divisive and performative, pointing to the staff allegations and her penchant for sharp-tongued retorts as evidence of a style that prioritizes spectacle over substance. The debate over Crockett’s conduct and the responses it provokes reflect deeper tensions in American politics—over race, gender, the boundaries of acceptable speech, and the strategies used to gain and wield power.
As the dust settles from this week’s controversies, one thing is clear: Jasmine Crockett remains undeterred, continuing to push back against her critics while championing her causes. Whether her approach will ultimately strengthen her position or create new vulnerabilities is a question that will play out in the months to come, as both her supporters and detractors watch closely.
