Eric Holder goes off-script to once again slam Louie Gohmert

After the two bickered during a hearing, the attorney general was still thinking about his congressional nemesis

Published April 10, 2014 2:30PM (EDT)

Attorney General Eric Holder and GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert got into it (again) during a hearing on Tuesday, with Holder ultimately pointing a finger in Gohmert's direction and warning him not to "go there" after the Texas congressman implied Holder didn't take his being held in contempt by Congress in 2012 seriously.

And while Holder was able to have the last laugh — zinging Gohmert for his asparagus malapropism — video of a talk he gave on Wednesday shows him going off-script to criticize Gohmert and his fellow Tea Partyers one more time.

Speaking at the National Action Network convention in New York City on Wednesday, Holder briefly strayed from his prepared remarks while touting the work the Obama administration has done despite GOP opposition.

“I'm pleased to note that the last five years have been defined by significant strides and by lasting reforms even in the face, even in the face of unprecedented, unwarranted, ugly and divisive adversity," Holder said.

Holder continued, claiming that the GOP's resistance to the Obama administration was outside the norm. "And if you don’t believe that, you look at the way -- and forget about me, forget about me -- you look at the way the attorney general of the United States was treated yesterday by a House committee," Holder added. "That had nothing to do with me. Forget that. What attorney general has ever had to deal with that kind of treatment? What president has ever had to deal with that kind of treatment?”

Watch Holder's off-the-cuff complaint below, via Talking Points Memo:


By Elias Isquith

Elias Isquith is a former Salon staff writer.

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Asparagus Eric Holder Louie Gohmert National Action Network Talking Points Memo Video