The world of politics is never short on surprises, disputes and questionable statements. This Sunday, Senator Lindsey Graham produced the latter of those three options During an appearance on FOX News Sunday, Chris Wallace asked the South Carolina lawmaker if systemic racism existed in American society today.
“No, not in my opinion,” Graham told the Fox News host.
As the southern legislator went on, he attempted to justify his answer by saying that a Black man could not be president if systemic racism existed in American society today. He also presented Kamala Harris's vice presidency as evidence that systemic racism had died.
“We just elected a two-term African American president. The vice president is of African-American-Indian descent. So our systems are not racist. America is not a racist country. Within every society, you have bad actors.”
There are many people who emphatically disagree with Graham's uninformed statements. Many of those detractors took to social media to voice their displeasure with the federal lawmaker.
Graham's critics don't solely reside on social media. Many of his colleagues also called out the congressman for making such ignorant statements.
“It’s as if saying we don’t have poverty issues in this country because we have millionaires and billionaires. I really don’t know what point he was trying to make with that statement,” Rep. Ilhan Omar said.
“It’s obvious we have a long way to go in this country if we have lawmakers who are refusing to acknowledge the fact that there is institutionalized racism that is embedded within our systems that we need to actively work in rooting out.”
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