MSNBC host Al Sharpton escalated his rhetoric on race and elections Friday, accusing Republicans of ripping the country to shreds as he weighed in on ongoing redistricting fights in several states.
According to Breitbart, Sharpton used his appearance on MS NOWs Deadline to frame GOP-led election reforms and map-drawing efforts as an assault on American democracy and a betrayal of the nations founding ideals. He claimed, I think that we are seeing the end of the second reconstruction.
The rudeness and insensitivity that is being done shows that these people are deliberately saying that, as we call on the world to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the very principles that we claim the country is started, because everybody in the country was not same status. Sharpton went on to emphasize historical grievances, stating, Blacks were slaves 250 years ago, women couldnt vote. But were not even going to pretend during this anniversary that this is about democracy.
Sharpton then invoked California Governor Gavin Newsom to argue that the left cannot prevail at the ballot box alone and must rely on the courts, saying, We are going to as, it was put up by, Governor Newsom, were not going to win by votes, change what we want, and if the people in Virginia vote, well just flip it over in a Supreme Court. He likened todays political climate to royal tyranny, declaring, So we are, approaching, this 250 anniversary more like King George than we are like those that signed the Declaration of Independence because theyre saying that might is right. Were going to rule no matter what, and were going to use race as one of the ways that were going to whip everybody in line.
Doubling down on his divisive framing, Sharpton concluded, So I mean, the whole idea of us bringing the country together, theyre ripping it to shreds, and theyre doing it gleefully, and theyre doing it openly. The question is, will we be able to come with the same force that our forefathers did? His remarks reflect a broader pattern on the left of casting routine political disputes as existential threats, even as conservatives argue that secure elections, constitutional limits, and colorblind law are essential to preserving the very republic Sharpton claims is under siege.
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