Political Tribune

GOP, Racism, Social Media

Social Media Instantly Fact-Checked Mitch McConnell Over His Brazenly False Defense Of The Filibuster

Watch it, Mitch, your racism is showing.

594
594 points

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has had his sights set on holding onto the filibuster for dear life here lately, as calls grow among Democrats to eliminate it — efforts that Mitch has labeled as a “power grab.”

The filibuster is basically a procedure within the United States Senate that allows senators to delay or even block a vote on a bill by debating it until they’re blue in the face, the cows come home, and the fat lady has sung. It’s really not surprising at all that it’s one of Mitch McConnell’s most favorite things in the whole world and he never wants to lose it — the guy is literally notorious for making people’s lives a living hell at any and every given opportunity.

The man is so desperate to cling to his precious filibuster, in fact, that it seems he’s willing to bald-faced lie about it.

Yesterday, in an attempt to defend the outdated and unnecessary Senatorial procedure, Minority Leader McConnell incorrectly claimed that the filibuster has “no racial history at all, none.”

Lawmakers and historians alike have noted that the filibuster has been historically used to black legislation on Civil Rights, with former President Obama going so far as to label the procedure a “Jim Crow relic” that should be done away with, last year.

However, it seems ole “Moscow Mitch” doesn’t agree.

Later in the day yesterday, spokesperson for the senator Doug Andres claimed that McConnell was referring only to the origins of the filibuster, citing the senator’s earlier comments on the Senate floor which did focus on the filibuster’s origins, and not the specifics for which the procedure has been used historically.

McConnell cited the Washington Post during his floor remarks, as the publication ran a piece noting three possible origins of the filibuster, none of which had roots in slavery or racism. But, in speaking to the media later on that same day, Mitch’s comments were far broader and sweeping.

“It has no racial history at all, none, so there’s no dispute among historians about that,” Mitch claimed.

The same Post piece that McConnell cited in his floor remarks proves the senator’s claim is categorically false, pointing out that the procedure was historically used to not only block action against slavery but was implemented for nearly a century to halt any legislation on Civil Rights.

McConnell even had the gall to quote a PolitiFact article that stated, “Historians told PolitiFact that the filibuster did not emerge from debates over slavery or segregation.” But McConnell unsurprisingly left out the very next sentence in that article, reading, “However, they agreed that the parliamentary tactic was closely affiliated with opposition to civil rights for more than a century.”

It was Mitch’s sweeping claim that the filibuster has “no racial history at all” that earned him a brutal, instant fact check from social media users:

NASA called, Mitch. They can see your racism from space.

Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0

Can’t get enough Political Tribune? Follow us on Twitter!

Looking for more video content? Subscribe to our channel on YouTube!

, ,

Andrea Thompson

Posted by

Comments

log in

Captcha!
Forgot password?

reset password

Back to
log in