The congressman, a United Methodist pastor, told the Kansas City Star he was making a “lighthearted pun” when he used the made-up word “a-woman” to finish the prayer Sunday on the opening session of the 117th Congress.
His prayer ended: “We ask it in the name of the monotheistic God, Brahma, and ‘god’ known by many names, by many different faiths. Amen and a-woman.”
Multiple Twitter users, including some Republican lawmakers, pointed out that the word “amen” means “so be it” and has nothing to do with the male gender, while Donald Trump Jr. called it “insane.”
Mr. Cleaver swung back at what he called the “orchestrated outrage” on social media, adding that he received a friendly reception from other House members immediately after the prayer.