HARRISBURG — State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, no stranger to controversy, created a stir Thursday when he asserted on the House floor that “a white nationalist … is a lot different than a white supremacist” and appeared to defend having invited a man with alleged white nationalist ties to testify before his state government committee earlier this week.

Mr. Metcalfe was responding to comments by Rep. Leslie Acosta, D-Philadelphia, who said she felt silenced unfairly in Mr. Metcalfe’s state government committee Monday during a hearing on a bill to make English Pennsylvania's “official” language.

“I'm a duly elected member of this body,” she said. “My statements were ignored, silenced and disrespected.”

Mr. Metcalfe responded by saying Thursday that the hearing had been unfairly maligned in an email from the Southern Poverty Law Center, identifying one of the speakers as an “alleged white supremacist,” Mr. Metcalfe said.

He said “a white nationalist … is a lot different than a white supremacist.”

Mr. Metcalfe could not be reached for further comment Thursday night.

The Southern Poverty Law Center monitors domestic hate groups and extremists. An email from the group said Robert “Bob” Vandervoort, who testified at the Monday hearing, is the head of ProEnglish, which it identified as a “nativist extremist group.” On Monday, when asked about the characterization, he said he does not consider himself a white nationalist.

“I think that’s a total distortion and smear on behalf of the SPLC and it’s unfortunate they have to resort to name-calling.”

A spokesman for House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Marshall, said Mr. Turzai “did not feel the floor was the proper venue to resolve this matter. He will be calling both parties in to talk about it.”

Jay Ostrich, Mr. Turzai's spokesman, declined to address the substance of Mr. Metcalfe’s remarks.

“I know the speaker is concerned about respect for every member of the Legislature, whether Republican or Democrat,” he said.

First Published: September 24, 2015, 10:47 p.m.
Updated: September 25, 2015, 4:20 a.m.