Sen. Graham Uses Barr Hearing To Bully NAACP Over The 'F' On His Report Card
We always knew he was that kid. The one who ran to the teacher to complain about his grade. Here it is, more grotesque than ever, on display as a United States Senator, holding the distinguished rank of Chairperson of the Judiciary Committee. In Day Two of William Barr's confirmation hearings for Attorney General, Senator Lindsay Graham badgered and bullied Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP about why his and other GOP senators' grades on the NAACP report cards were so low.
The questions barely focused on Mr. Barr at all. Graham opened by saying that he'd voted for Loretta Lynch and Eric Holder for AG...what was Johnson's objection to Barr? (Translation: I voted for two Black AGs — doesn't that mean I can vote for a racist white one, now?) Johnson answered that he didn't feel confident Barr had the firm commitment that Lynch and Holder had to upholding Section Two of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits jurisdictions from establishing requirements for voting based on race or other minority status. Graham went on to dismiss this concern as simply a difference in "policy" — and he doesn't take "policy differences" into consideration when voting to confirm an AG.
This is the ULTIMATE in white supremacist thinking. Reducing the fundamental right to cast a ballot fairly for minorities, particularly Black people, in this country, to a simple "policy difference." It is what differentiates a citizen from a non-citizen, and Johnson said as much. Minus the white supremacy, part.