Top Republican wants NC Democrats ‘disciplined’ after explicit language in video
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Jones asked Reives to discipline Democratic caucus members.
- Alston posted a 2 minute 18 second video with Batch that contained 12 expletives.
- Jones called the conduct beneath the dignity and standards the public expects.
A top leader in the Republican-controlled state House is calling for two Democratic lawmakers to be punished for appearing in a video with profanity that describes frustration with Republicans and the state’s delayed budget.
House Majority Leader Brenden Jones shared a statement on Thursday morning that asks House Democratic Leader Robert Reives to “discipline” any member of the House Democratic Caucus involved in creating the video. He also asks Reives to investigate any Democratic staff members “who filmed these videos on legislative time.”
Rep. Vernetta Alston, who represents Durham, posted a video on Instagram and Facebook on Monday featuring Alston and Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch, where Batch served as Alston’s “anger interpreter” as they discussed their frustrations with the state legislature’s nearly one-year delay on passing a comprehensive state budget. The video parodied sketch comedy duo Key and Peele’s “Obama’s Anger Translator” sketch.
In the video, Batch repeatedly used explicit language — which was mostly bleeped out — and Alston explained the Democrats’ frustration calmly and without profanity. The 2-minute, 18-second video had 12 expletives.
“Instead of doing their jobs, Republicans are acting like a bunch of little (expletive) because they can’t deliver a budget,” Batch said in her first comment. The expletive was bleeped.
Republican leadership have signaled that a budget is in the works after announcing a budget agreement in mid-May.
“The people of North Carolina deserve elected officials who understand the seriousness of the offices they hold,” Jones wrote in his statement. “Instead, Democratic leaders chose to post a video filled with profanity, political insults, and juvenile stunts. This conduct is beneath the dignity of the North Carolina General Assembly and beneath the standards our constituents expect from us.”
Alston “translated” for Batch throughout the video, saying that without a budget, the state cannot fund needs like education and infrastructure. She also assured constituents that Democrats have an agenda to improve the daily lives of North Carolinians.
“As long as Sen. Batch has been around, you’d think she’d already know that our projects are still being funded, and state employees are still being paid,” Rep. Wyatt Gable, a Jacksonville Republican, said on X. “Democrats should avoid chiming in on fiscal policy, since the last time they were in control, our state was in billions of dollars of debt.”
Sen. Batch says ‘moral indignation’ misplaced
“There are two teams,” Batch said in the video. “Democrats, who are trying to make sure that you’re not homeless and starving, and these (expletive) Republicans who don’t give a (expletive) about you.”
Senate leader Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican, told reporters that he has heard about the video but has not yet seen it.
“I’m glad she’s got something to do,” he told reporters. “It seems to me that it’s a distraction,” he added later.
Batch told reporters that Republicans should be focusing on addressing rising costs and poverty and increasing pay for state employees.
“Where is their moral indignation when we’re talking about the things that really matter to North Carolinians?” she said.
Batch told The News & Observer in a press conference that she believes that Republicans are using her profanity to distract from the message of the video.
“What I would say is that while they want to distract from words that I choose to use in satire [which] is really disappointing, given the fact that they literally bend over and shake hands with and applaud a president who has, not in satire, said some of the most offensive things in this country,” Batch said.
“Rep. Jones can say whatever the heck he wants, but the last time I checked, maybe he should open up a dictionary, read the word ‘satire,’ and understand what that video is,” she told reporters later.
Jones is known for his intense questioning during hearings for the House Oversight and Reform Committee, which he chairs.
In December, Jones threw books during a heated hearing with Chapel Hill-Carrboro school leaders about their compliance with a state law that defines how parents are informed about their children and creates regulations around teaching about sexuality in elementary schools.
Jones was displeased with content in the books, which were linked on the district’s site. He attacked George Griffin, who was the school board chair, and Superintendent Rodney Trice.
This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 3:15 PM.
