Politics

MAGA activist warns about voters with ‘Hispanic-sounding’ names

Published

3 months ago

November 11, 2024

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

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.”

Politics

Note to Our Readers

Published

4 hours ago

February 6, 2025

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Politics

Dems attack Elon Musk after DOGE gains access to sensitive data

Published

6 hours ago

February 6, 2025

Blue Light Newsroom

Dems attack Elon Musk after DOGE gains access to sensitive data

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Politics

Democrats zero in on Musk as a way to attack Trump

Published

9 hours ago

February 6, 2025

Blue Light Newsroom

Democrats are starting to wake up and sketch out a plan to help them win back the working class: Turn the world’s richest person into their boogeyman.

They’ve set their sights on holding Elon Musk to account. Armed with new polling showing Musk’s popularity in the toilet, key Democratic leaders are going after the top Trump adviser who is dismantling the federal government. They are attempting to subpoena him and introducing legislation to block him from receiving federal contracts while he holds a “special” role leading Trump’s cost-cutting crusade.

In a sign of how toxic Democrats believe Musk is, battleground Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) called Musk an “unelected, weirdo billionaire” and said he has “been getting a lot of calls over the past few days” about him. Golden is a moderate who represents Trump country.

Even Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who represents Silicon Valley and has had a relationship with Musk for years, is distancing himself from him. Khanna posted on X on Wednesday that Musk’s “attacks on our institutions are unconstitutional.” Khanna previously likened Musk to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “dollar-a-year men,” the corporate leaders who helped the government mobilize for WWII, and said he texts with him.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is seen during the ceremonial roll call on the second night of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Aug. 20, 2024.

Democrats are also protesting him in Washington, making the calculation that the idea of an unelected billionaire wreaking chaos on the bureaucracy will be unpopular with voters. And they have some data fueling their efforts.

New internal polling, conducted on behalf of House Majority Forward, a nonprofit aligned with House Democratic leadership, found Musk is viewed negatively among 1,000 registered voters in battleground districts. Just 43 percent approve of him and 51 percent view him unfavorably. The poll, conducted by the Democratic firm Impact Research and completed between Jan. 19 to 25, also found that Musk evoked strong negative feelings. Of the 51 percent who disapproved of him, 43 percent did so strongly.

The survey isn’t a one-off, either. An Economist/YouGov poll published on Wednesday also found Musk’s approval rating underwater, 43 percent favorable to 49 percent unfavorable.

In the Democrats’ internal polling, pollsters asked respondents for their thoughts on “the creation of a government of the rich for the rich by appointing up to nine different billionaires to the administration,” and found 70 percent opposed with only 19 percent in support — a stat that suggests Democrats have landed on a message that could gain traction with swing voters.

That data and focus groups held by House Majority Forward helped bring attacks on the administration into focus: Democrats “shouldn’t chide Musk, Trump, and others for being rich,” the group wrote, but point out Musk’s conflicts of interests as head of DOGE and note that he could undermine key safety net programs to enrich himself at the expense of American taxpayers.

“Participants laud Musk’s business acumen and aren’t opposed to the ideals of DOGE,” HMF found. But “Musk’s relationship with Trump – who they view as inherently pro-big business” makes them wary that billionaire’s cuts “could include programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.”