Many Republicans who are opposed to national voting rights protections shared messages lauding the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr on the federal holiday created to celebrate him. Social media users and other media personalities called out the hypocrisy, including MSNBC favorite Joy Reid.
The ReidOut host started her weekday show Monday by sharing some of those messages in a clip of several Republicans, including Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Glenn Youngkin, the new governor of Virginia, quoting that “a man should be judged by the content of his character and not the color of his skin,” from King’s famous 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech.
Reid also shared a tweet from Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who wrote Monday on Twitter, “As we honor MLK today, may his courage inspire us to redouble our commitment to working together for change. Let’s commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King by uniting the two Americas into one: an America that includes justice for one, and justice for all.” Reid reminded her audience that in 2010, Paul stated he would have opposed many elements of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Reid also played clips of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who both declared that there is no threat to voting rights in the U.S.
“You know, funny enough, that is exactly what the old version of the Dixiecrats said, back during the 1950s and ‘60s,” Reid noted for her viewers. “Oh, no one is being prevented from voting.”
“You just have to tell us how many jelly beans are in this jar, and you can vote. Just read this complicated passage, and you can totally vote,” she intoned. “Now, of course, we’re going to make sure your schools are awful and you’re barely even taught to read, let alone anything like this passage, but no one is keeping you from voting. The more Dixiecrats, interpositionists and nullificationists change, the more they stay the same.”
Reid was not the only person pointing out the double-talk of legislators and corporate entities.
In a widely circulated tweet, media personality Roland Martin cautioned on the day before the King Day holiday: “WARNING to ANY company quoting the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this weekend: if you have no Black board members, no Black senior execs, don’t support Black-owned media or other Black businesses, we are gonna drag your a** on social media for pimping the legacy of MLK.”
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