'Shockingly Racist': Mitch McConnell Slammed For Not Considering African Americans As American In Comment
After Republicans blocked Democrats’ efforts to protect and expand voting rights, Mitch McConnell let everyone know what he really feels.
The Kentucky GOP senate minority leader spoke to reporters on Wednesday (Jan. 19) after two Democratic senators refused to go along with a plan to change Senate rule to overcome a GOP filibuster of voting rights legislation. He was asked what he would say to voters of color who are concerned about their access to the polls prior to November’s midterm elections.
"Well, the concern is misplaced," McConnell said. "Because if you look at the statistics, African American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans."
The inference that Black people are not Americans, whether intentional or a slip of the tongue, was quickly met with backlash on social media.
Democrats failed to get 50 votes to change the Senate rules on Wednesday to move forward with the voting rights legislation with a simple majority.
The bill gained the support of Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia, but didn’t reach the 60 votes it needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.
Democrats Manchin and Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema ultimately ended up voting against changing the Senate’s filibuster rules, killing the bill.
