Hirono: I Supported the Filibuster in the Past, But It’s ‘a Vestige of the Jim Crow Days’

On Thursday’s broadcast of Comedy Central’s “Daily Show,” Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) admitted that she supported preserving the filibuster in the past, but she “learned from” how Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) conducted himself when he was in the majority “and also that the filibuster is a vestige of the Jim Crow days.”

Host Trevor Noah asked, “Previously, and correct me if I’m wrong, I feel like in the past, you were one of the Democrats who said the filibuster needed to be protected. You know, and a lot of Democrats said the filibuster needs to be protected so that the minority always has a say in which laws are being passed. Do you not worry about the inconsistency in that message or is there something that people may be missing?”

Hirono acknowledged that she had supported protecting the filibuster in the past, adding, “Oh, you know what, consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. So, I’ve learned watching Mitch McConnell over the last four years, he hardly ever gave the Democrats much chance to exercise our 60 votes — to deny him the 60 votes because he would rarely put out any substantive legislation in his busyness to get as many ideologically-oriented people onto the courts for lifetime appointments or passing the 1.5 trillion in tax cuts.” And “You think that well, the filibuster protects minority voices, but notice we were in the minority for four years and we basically got shafted at every turn. So, I learned from that and also that the filibuster is a vestige of the Jim Crow days. And so, we need to move on, away from this rule that’s not even anything that is in law or in the Constitution.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett