Ahead of the Juneteenth anniversary of the emancipation of U.S. slaves, former state Rep. Vernon Jones, a conservative Democrat-turned-Republican running for Congress in Georgia, called out Democrats for their historical support of slavery, while recognizing the role of Republicans who sacrificed their lives to end the institution.
In a video posted to Twitter on Saturday marking Juneteenth, Jones called on voters to “go out” to vote and “take back the country” in his congressional runoff this week, before highlighting the role of Democrats and Republicans in the history of slavery in the U.S.
“I had to pause for the cause because right now as we are about to celebrate Juneteenth,” he began in the slightly-over-one minute clip which garnered over thirty thousand views as of Sunday morning.
“I’m reminded that Juneteenth was brought about because of what Democrats did to black people, enslaving black people, when it was Republicans that freed the black people,” he added.
He continued by calling out the false narrative surrounding Democrat and Republican roles concerning slavery typically promoted on Juneteenth.
“And so, ironically, when they teach about Juneteenth, we don’t hear anything about [how] the Democrats were the ones who wanted slavery, and they tried to protect and secure and keep slavery,” he said.
“But it was Republicans who got out, fought, [and] died to free the slaves,” he added.
Arguing that liberals “don’t want — especially black people — to know that,” Jones called for youth to be educated about the truth behind political support for and opposition to slavery.
“And so I just wanted to say as we celebrate Juneteenth, let’s think about the role — and let’s educate our kids about the role — that Republicans played to free the slaves and the role that Democrats played to keep the slaves enslaved,” he concluded.
Jones, who switched parties in 2020 and endorsed then-President Trump’s re-election campaign, is currently heading to a runoff with fellow Republican candidate Mike Collins, a trucking business executive.
Collins finished ahead of Jones in voting but failed to eclipse 50 percent of the vote, resulting in the runoff.
In 2020, he explained why “a lifelong Democrat [was] speaking at the National Convention (RNC).”
“[Because] the Democratic Party does not want black people to leave their mental plantation; we’ve been forced to be there for decades and generations,” he said.
“But I have news for Joe Biden: We are free people with free minds,” Jones added. “I am part of a large and growing segment of the black community who are independent thinkers, and we believe that Donald Trump is the president that America needs to lead us forward.”
Last month, Jones slammed Beto O’Rourke — who is running against Greg Abbott for governor in 2022 — after the failed presidential candidate crashed a press conference covering the mass shooting in Uvalde, saying O’Rourke should be “disgusted with himself,” and called for more God — not gun control — in Americans’ lives.
Jones also called the Democratic Party “the most extreme organization in the world,” recalling the party’s support for slavery and the Ku Klux Klan, as well as its current attacks on law enforcement and “independent think[ing].”
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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