Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell dismisses Black people’s concern for voting rights by implying that African Americans are not Americans.
Asked by a reporter about concerns among voters of color after the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act failed in the Senate Wednesday, McConnell said: “Well, the concern is misplaced. Because if you look at the statistics, African American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans.”
“A recent survey, 94 percent of Americans thought it was easy to vote. This is not a problem. Turnout is up, biggest turnout since 1900… they’re being sold a bill of goods to support a Democratic effort to federalize elections… this has been a Democratic Party goal for decades,” McConnell added.
On Wednesday, the Senate voted against a one-time change to the chamber’s filibuster rules to pass Democrats’ signature voting rights package.
All 50 Senate Republicans and two Democrats, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, voted against a proposal brought by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to require Republicans to maintain a talking filibuster in order to block the passage of the bill.
