The event recognized Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the first black senator elected from the South since Reconstruction (in 2014 he was elected to the same seat he was appointed to in December 2012); Rep. Will Hurd, the first black Republican elected to Congress from Texas; and Rep. Mia Love of Utah, the first black Republican woman to serve in Congress.
READ: Kasich heads to South Carolina
Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets and a major GOP donor, helped introduce the three lawmakers.
“It’s amazing to me that we’re dealing with ‘firsts’ in this century,” Johnson told CNN in an interview after the event. “There should be ‘seconds, thirds and fourths,’ and really the Republican Party is open to all.”
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Michael Tyler, director of African-American media at the Democratic National Committee, argued the RNC lunch was simply a “perfunctory gesture” and called on Republicans to “actually fight for the issues that most affect black families across the country,” naming education, health care and minimum wage as examples.
“While minority ‘outreach’ is sorely lacking in today’s GOP, what is even more lacking is a record of real results,” Tyler said.
CNN’s Athena Jones contributed to this report.
