Cruz calls Democrats’ voting overhaul bill ‘Jim Crow 2.0’

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz called Democrats’ sweeping voting system overhaul “Jim Crow 2.0” and put the blame for the racist, suppression laws of the past on Democrats.

Speaking at a Senate markup hearing on Tuesday for the For the People Act, dubbed H.R. 1 in the House and S. 1 in the Senate, Cruz acknowledged Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer describing Jim Crow laws.

“He’s right. Jim Crow laws were bigoted, racist, and disenfranchise millions of people,” Cruz said. “It is worth remembering that those Jim Crow laws were drafted by Democrats, they were implemented by Democrats, and they kept Democrats in power.”

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“Today’s talking point repeated in the media is, ‘That was the Democrats of yesterday, not today,’” Cruz continued, referencing an often-noted ideological and geographic shift of the party. “Well, today, the Democrats are doing it again.

“This legislation, to use a phrase that has been popularized in the media recently, is Jim Crow 2.0,” Cruz said.

The “Jim Crow 2.0” description is a cheeky appropriation of a term that many Democrats recently used to criticize Republican-led state-level “election integrity” legislation in Georgia and elsewhere.

The Democrats’ voting bill, Cruz asserted, is intended to register “millions” of illegal immigrants to vote — a claim that has been refuted by fact-checkers. Cruz also said the bill would allow felons who are out of prison to register to vote, would complicate state voter ID laws, and legalize “ballot harvesting,” the practice of having a person other than the voter collect and return ballots.

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“This legislation would disenfranchise millions of Americans. Many of us are referring to this legislation as the ‘Corrupt Politicians Act,’” Cruz said. “This legislation is designed to ensure that Democrats never lose another election.”

“This bill doesn’t protect voting rights. It steals voting rights from the American people,” he said.