Politics
MAGA activist warns about voters with ‘Hispanic-sounding’ names
A video obtained by CBS News and published this week offers a clear window into the bigotry motivating the MAGA movement’s voter suppression efforts.
The video shows North Carolina conservative activist James Womack directing members of his “election protection” group to be on the lookout for voters with “Hispanic-sounding last names,” claiming their voter registrations could be “suspicious.”
Womack’s organization of activist volunteers is part of a coalition of groups challenging people’s voter eligibility called the Election Integrity Network, which is headed by election-denying attorney Cleta Mitchell.
In the video, which CBS says was provided by a progressive watchdog group and independently verified by the outlet, Womack discusses how to identify “suspicious” voters:
If you’ve got folks that you, that were registered and they’re missing information and they were registered in the last 90 days before the election and they’ve got Hispanic-sounding last names, that probably is, is a suspicious voter. … It doesn’t mean they’re illegal. It just means they’re suspicious.
Womack told CBS he believes the voter lists are “corrupt” and said “citizens have a right to that information and they analyze that information to identify potential illegal or improperly registered people.” He said the group takes multiple factors into consideration when flagging suspicious voters.
The “Hispanic-sounding last name certainly is not exclusive,” Womack told CBS, adding that “mispronunciations” and misspellings of “Arab” names could also be suspicious.
Womack said his group doesn’t target people based on race. But there’s literally no reason other than xenophobia to think someone having a “Hispanic-sounding” surname or mispronounced “Arab” name (whatever that means) should heighten suspicion that they’re an illegally registered voter.
This is the natural result of Donald Trump, Republicans in Congress and conservative media figures promoting bigoted conspiracy theories alleging Democrats are deliberately welcoming migrants into the country to have them vote illegally. It cannot be overstated that this is a lie that aligns the GOP with the racist screeds of several mass shooters.
The Womack video offers yet another example of today’s conservative movement relying on Jim Crow-style tactics to hoist its candidates into office this election cycle.
And lest you believe this kind of targeting can’t have an impact, Republicans are seeking to purge thousands of voters from voter rolls (though their efforts are largely failing, as my colleague Lisa Rubin wrote for the MaddowBlog this week). And we’ve already seen examples of these challenges disproportionately sweeping up eligible voters of color. On the campaign trail, Trump has started routinely raving about wanting to revive the United States of the 1890s, and even the 1790s. He longs for an era before nonwhite people were afforded equal access to participate in our political system. And his supporters are trying their hardest to give it to him, one racist voter suppression scheme at a time.
Ja’han Jones is The ReidOut Blog writer. He’s a futurist and multimedia producer focused on culture and politics. His previous projects include “Black Hair Defined” and the “Black Obituary Project.”
President Donald Trump’s so-called Religious Liberty Commission, which is filled with right-wing zealotsappears to be coming apart at the seams.
Last week’s resignation of Sameerah Munshi, formerly the only Muslim woman selected as one of the commission’s advisers, underscores the religious divisions that are causing disarray for the panel and the conservative movement more broadly.
Munshi is a conservative activist who has advocated for allowing parents to opt out of lesson plans related to LGBTQ+ issues, a stance the White House has praised for its rejection of “radical gender ideology.” She said her resignation was due to two things: the commission’s expulsion of conservative activist Carrie Prejean Boller and the Trump administration’s war with Iran.
I recently wrote about how Boller’s removal, which followed a heated argument at a commission hearing over antisemitism, has fueled allegations of anti-Catholicism within the MAGA movement. Boller recently appeared on an episode of Tucker Carlson’s podcast for a chummy chat about her removal. And Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., requested last week that the House Oversight and Judiciary committees review her ouster.
In addition to that, Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission is being sued over its lack of diversity. (The White House has said the panel is intended to reflect a “diversity of faith traditions, professional backgrounds and viewpoints.”)
So Munshi’s resignation is just the latest negative publicity for the commission.
“I resign in protest of two deeply troubling developments: the official removal of Carrie Prejean Boller for her deeply held beliefs about Palestine and the federal government’s illegal war against Iran, undertaken without clear constitutional or congressional authorization,” Munshi wrote on Substack.
“Ultimately, I will have to stand before God and answer to Him for my role in this commission,” she added. “I ask His forgiveness if I have legitimized their evil or the evil of this administration in any way. I ask Him to keep my intentions pure and to guide me toward paths that bring true benefit to my community.”
Boller’s removal has also helped fuel right-wing antipathy toward the Rev. Paula White, who Boller has said was behind a “witch hunt” that led to her ouster. During their conversation, Boller and Carlson took turns bashing White, a controversial preacher of the prosperity gospel who has served as religious adviser to Trump.
Some evangelicals in the MAGA movement were apoplectic when White was chosen to lead the White House Faith Office. And now it appears the chickens have come home to roost as her involvement with Trump’s White House threatens the MAGA movement’s religious coalition.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.
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