Democratic Lawmaker Claims Trump Admin Would Prefer Black Americans ‘Pick Cotton’ Than Pick the President
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) accused members of President Donald Trump’s administration of preferring to see Black Americans “pick cotton” than pick the president.
Pressley made the claim during an interview on MS NOW on Saturday.
The liberal lawmaker claimed the Trump administration was just fine with racism after several court rulings have went in the Republican Party’s favor recently, including a Supreme Court ruling last week that the AP reported “set the stage for Alabama to eliminate one of two largely Black congressional districts before this year’s midterms.”
That followed a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling that Louisiana’s congressional map was an illegal race-based gerrymander that violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Pressley was so outraged by the recent rulings that she traveled 1,400 miles from her district to attend a protest in Mobile, Alabama on Saturday.
She explained her attendance to MS NOW host Alex Witt by saying, “This is not just a fight for the Black voter or Black Americans. This is not just a fight in defense of the South. This is a fight in defense of our democracy.”
“This is racial gerrymandering. It is a great injustice. And we’re here collectively in righteous indignation,” Pressley continued. “I have to just tell the truth: There are people in this hostile anti-Black administration that would rather Black Americans pick cotton than pick the president, than pick their congressperson, than pick a senator.”
She added, “They want the representatives to decide who their voters are, instead of the voters determining who their representatives are. This is all happening because they recognize the power of the super majority, and that is the Black voter and every marginalized voter.”
Her harsh words about the Trump administration comes a few weeks after the Supreme Court’s ruling voided Louisiana’s second majority Black congressional district; the court’s conservative-leaning justices found the state’s map relied too heavily on race.
Chief Justice John Roberts said the Louisiana district was a “snake” created along racial lines. Justice Samuel Alito agreed, writing the map was an “unconstitutional gerrymander.”
Trump celebrated the decision afterwards, saying it was the “kind of ruling I like.”
Beyond her disdain for Trump, Pressley said something has to be done about the “extremist” Supeme Court as well.
Her solution? Packing the courts. She said the only way to counter the court’s “anti-freedom, anti-democratic agenda” was to add more justices to it.
Watch above via MS NOW.
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