The Florida Legislative Black Caucus on Tuesday demanded that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly apologize for "disrespectful" remarks about Frederica Wilson, the Democratic congresswoman caught in a war of words with President Trump over his condolence call to the widow of a fallen soldier.

  • Group's members dismayed, not surprised by White House responses
  • WH Press Secretary: Kelly has nothing to correct or apologize for
  • Sen. Perry Thurston: "The nation can't move on."

At a Florida Capitol press conference, the group's members, some of whom served with Wilson when she was in the legislature, suggested that Kelly's reference to the congresswoman last week as "that empty a barrel," along with a presidential tweet calling her "wacky," carried racist and sexist connotations.

"The tone, that they would even think that they could use those type of terms for someone with that type of background, to me does imply that there must be some other reason, whether it be that it's because she's African-American or because she's a woman," said Sen. Oscar Braynon (D-Miami), the Senate minority leader.

Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, has come under fire for alleging that Wilson had boasted about her role in securing funding for a Miami federal building during a 2015 ribbon cutting ceremony. A video of the event showed the congresswoman made no such remarks, but White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on Tuesday said Kelly doesn't "have anything to correct or apologize for."

Caucus leaders said they were dismayed but not surprised by the Trump administration's response to Wilson's defenders, calling it the latest example of a calculated strategy to play to the white nationalists that make up a key part of the president's base.

"We see a signal that's out there, and it's sort of like it comes from the top, that we don't have to show the appropriate respect, and we can not not respect our leaders and our elected officials and our women, and we will not tolerate it," said Sen. Perry Thurston (D-Ft. Lauderdale).

They also argued that Gov. Rick Scott's removal of Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala, an independently-elected black Democrat philosophically opposed to capital punishment, from handling death penalty cases was another act of disrespect emboldened by Trump's rise to power.

But even some of the administration's sharpest critics have urged Democrats to shift the debate from the latest cultural firestorm to engulf Trump's presidency. For the Black Legislative Caucus, that isn't an option.

"The nation can't move on," Thurston said. "Not until this administration responds."