A backlash is occurring after Senator McConnell made some questionable remarks about Black voters.
A Kentucky Republican was asked during his appearance on Capitol Hill last Wednesday evening (Jan. 19) what he would say to minority communities concerned that voting restrictions will keep them from voting. “Well, it is a misplaced concern.” he responded. McConnell noted that African American voters vote just the same amount as Americans based on the statistics.
He received immediate backlash for his remarks. The Democratic congressman from Illinois, Bobby Rush, attacked McConnell’s remarks on Twitter, stating, “Black people ARE Americans. #MitchPlease.”
Democrat Diana DeGette referred to McConnell’s statement as “disgusting.”
In a tweet, DeGette said, “African-American voters ARE AMERICANS, and suggesting otherwise is just flat-out racist.”
During his Senate campaign, former Kentucky state senator Charles Booker wrote on Twitter, “I am as American as Mitch McConnell is.” He continued, “Believe me, this is who Mitch McConnell is. “Being Black does not make you any less of an American, regardless of what this craven man thinks.”
Talbert Swan, a pastor and activist, joked that he couldn’t explain what McConnell meant. It strikes me as odd that he sees a difference between African-American voters and ‘Americans.'”
McConnell’s remarks are a true reflection of the Republican party’s view of African-American voters, said Malcolm Kenyatta, a Democratic senatorial candidate in Pennsylvania. Mitchell McConnell’s statements suggesting African Americans aren’t fully American were more than a Freudian slip; they were dog whistles. McConnell has been blaring this one since forever,” he explained.
Between Jan 1st, to Dec 7th, 2021, over 30 laws restricting access to voting were passed in 19 states, according to the Brennan Center. Electors of color experience those restrictions disproportionately.
