A 'Real Housewives' speech was quoted word-for-word at a congressional hearing

By Jennifer Gerson

Originally published by The 19th

It’s not often that Bravo fan accounts post on Instagram about congressional hearings. But then again — it’s not every day that a congressional hearing features a lawmaker quoting directly from the Real Housewives.

This is in fact exactly what happened Wednesday when Rep. Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, recited part of Heather Gay’s now-iconic monologue from the finale of “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” during a House Oversight Committee hearing. The hearing was called by House Republicans to discuss Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings — an occasion quickly seized upon by their Democratic colleagues to pivot the conversation to former President Donald Trump’s record while in the White House.  

During the hearing, Garcia, the first LGBTQ+ immigrant to win a congressional seat, said: “And what do we have as Democrats? We have receipts. Proof. A timeline. Screenshots. We have everything we need to prove conclusively that foreign governments were funneling money through Trump properties and into Donald Trump’s pockets, all in violation of the Constitution.”

Garcia told The 19th that earlier this week, he had posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, a clip of Gay’s speech in reference to Trump’s behavior.