Dem Rep. Bowman: Manchin ‘Upholding a System of White Supremacy’ and ‘Beholden to the Wealthy Elite’

On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The ReidOut,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) stated that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is “upholding a system of white supremacy through wealth inequality through people like the Koch Brothers.” And is “beholden to the wealthy elite overall, who have control of our democracy.”

Bowman said, “We are a part of a system that is rooted in white supremacy, and it has evolved into a system where corporate-backed actors and the wealthy elite are literally controlling Congress. The reason why they don’t support H.R. 1 is not just the voting rights piece. That’s a big piece and that’s very important and we want to pass it retroactively so we can supersede what’s happening at the state level. But H.R. 1 also gets big money out of politics and pushes through publicly-financed elections. So, I am one of a few Democrats who, we do not take corporate PAC money because we don’t want to be beholden to corporations. We want to be beholden to our constituents, the people that we are supposed to serve. Joe Manchin and many others are no longer beholden to their constituents. They’re beholden to the Koch Brothers, they’re beholden to the Chamber of Commerce, and they’re beholden to the wealthy elite overall, who have control of our democracy. … We are not allowed to evolve into the multiracial democracy that we are because white supremacy has its tentacles around Congress in the form of wealth inequality and the wealthy elite controlling our Congress.”

He added, “Joe Manchin, while he speaks to being holier than thou and upholding our democracy and looking to save it, he’s really upholding a system of white supremacy through wealth inequality through people like the Koch Brothers.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett