A Nebraska state GOP senator admitted that the Republican Party is “enabling white supremacy” on Sunday.
John McCollister, 72, who was first elected in 2014, criticized both his party and President Trump in a Sunday night Twitter thread.
“The Republican Party is enabling white supremacy in our country. As a lifelong Republican, it pains me to say this, but it’s the truth. I of course am not suggesting that all Republicans are white supremacists nor am I saying that the average Republican is even racist,” he began. “What I am saying though is that the Republican Party is COMPLICIT to obvious racist and immoral activity inside our party.”
The Republican Party is enabling white supremacy in our country. As a lifelong Republican, it pains me to say this, but it’s the truth.
I of course am not suggesting that all Republicans are white supremacists nor am I saying that the average Republican is even racist.
— Senator McCollister (@SenMcCollister) August 5, 2019
McCollister’s thread continued, “We have a Republican president who continually stokes racist fears in his base. He calls certain countries ‘sh*tholes,’ tells women of color to ‘go back’ to where they came from and lies more than he tells the truth.”
We have a Republican president who continually stokes racist fears in his base. He calls certain countries “sh*tholes,” tells women of color to “go back” to where they came from and lies more than he tells the truth.
— Senator McCollister (@SenMcCollister) August 5, 2019
The state senator specifically attacked the president for his rhetoric that has been directed at members of Congress who are people of color.
He continued, “The time is now for us Republicans to be honest with what is happening inside our party. We are better than this and I implore my Republican colleagues to stand up and do the right thing,” and proceeded to invoke Abraham Lincoln’s legacy.
McCollister’s thread came on the heels of two mass shootings that happened in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio over the weekend. Twenty-nine people lost their lives in the two attacks. While the motive for the Dayton shooter remains unknown, the El Paso shooter posted an anti-immigrant, racist manifesto.
McCollister, the son of the late U.S. Rep. John Y. McCollister, represents Nebraska’s 20th District, which makes up a part of Omaha. He has on occasion broken from the party and has identified as a moderate. McCollister has expressed an interest in expanding Medicaid coverage and has tried to get the state attorney general to stop trying to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
