Warnock: Republicans Are ‘Anti-American’ — ‘They Are Trying to Turn Democracy on its Head’

Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) said Monday on ABC’s “The View” that Republican lawmakers not supporting the Democrats’ voting legislation were “anti-American.”

Host Ana Navarro asked, “What would Dr. King make of the fact we’re still fighting for voting rights all these decades later, and arguably some would say going backward?”

Warnock said, “Well, it’s disheartening. I have to be honest. I am saddened by where we are right now. But Dr. King was a sober-minded soldier in the nonviolent fight for freedom. He knew it would not be easy. He used to say that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. So he kept bending that arc then. We have to keep bending that arc now. It’s not unusual to have this kind of backlash, you know, when you take two steps forward often, there is push back driven by fear and bigotry.”

He continued, “The good news is, we have the tools in the Senate to do something about this. We can pass voting rights. Democrats have the slimmest of majorities, but we have the majority, nonetheless. Sadly our colleagues on the other side have chosen power and politics over a commitment to democracy. They are trying to turn democracy on its head. So rather than the people picking their politicians, the politicians are trying to cherry-pick their voters. It’s anti-democratic, it’s anti-American.”

Warnock added, “Those who would speak today the name of Martin Luther King Jr., who was the greatest of Americans, have to stand where he would have stood. That is on behalf of democracy, on behalf of inclusion, on behalf of that sacred idea one person one vote. I’m not about to rest until we find a way to secure the right to vote, access to the ballot for every eligible American.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN