Thune: Those Who Grew Up Neighborhoods with No Social Unrest ‘Need to Listen’

Tuesday on “PBS NewsHour,” Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-SD) said it was a time for people who grew up in more affluent neighborhoods to learn by listening to those who did not.

Judy Woodruff asked, “The Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, just in the last couple of hours told reporters the Congress has a role to play, he said in dealing with racial discrimination and police accountability. What exactly do Republicans in the Senate have in mind with regard to either of these big issues?”

Thune said, “Well, I think that’s to be determined. I think what the leader was suggesting is that we want to be a constructive force. We understand we get it. People feel very strongly right now, and clearly, many of these things have been going on for way too long. And I think our country is ready for a period of healing. There have been some steps that have been taken in the past. You know in 2017, we passed an economic policies that I think have really enhanced the economic vitality in a lot of our minority communities in this country. Criminal justice reform was something that was passed here just in the last year or so, and that was a long-sought-after reform to our criminal justice system in this country. So I think there are things that we can do. And that was very bipartisan. It was something that was advocated by people on both the right and the left. I think there are solutions like that that we ought to be looking at that I think send a message that we recognize the frustrations and the sense of sort of helplessness that a lot of people in this country feel. And the fact that not everybody experiences our democracy and our history and our heritage the way that many of us have.”

He continued, “Those of us who have grown up in neighborhoods that didn’t deal with a lot of the social unrest and economic challenge that we have in other neighborhoods in this country certainly have a lot to learn from those who have been through those experiences. I think this is a period of time when we need to listen. If there are solutions that are meaningful, we ought to be looking at what we can do to find some common ground.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN