Chuck Schumer and his fellow Senate Democrats were thrown back on their heels.
The dynamics in Washington changed after weeks of Democrats thinking they had President Trump and the Republicans on the run.
And now Chuck Schumer suffered a major setback after this top ally’s scandal.
Senate Republicans introduced their legislation to reform police conduct in America.
The effort was led by South Carolina Senator Tim Scott who for a short time was the only black male in the Senate.
Scott’s bill incentivized local police departments to ban chokeholds and share data about police misconduct through access to federal grant programs.
Democrats’ competing legislation called for a government takeover of policing and eliminated qualified immunity – a doctrine the Supreme Court ruled legal – which allowed citizens to sue individual officers for acts of misconduct.
As to be expected, Senate Democrats panned any legislation that did not give them 100 percent of what they asked for.
But Senate Minority Whip – and close Schumer ally – Illinois Democrat Senator Dick Durbin went over the line.
In an unhinged floor speech, Durbin used racist language calling Scott’s effort “token.”
“’You’re supposed to be in charge; you’re supposed to have the authority,’” Durbin began.
“So what we say on the Democratic side is we cannot waste this historic moment, this singular opportunity,” Durbin snarled. “Let’s not do something that is a token, half-hearted approach.”
Scott reacted angrily on social media taunting Democrats by tweeting, “Y’all still wearing those kente cloths over there.”
Scott referred to a racist photo-op staged by Nancy Pelosi and her fellow House Democrats when they introduced their power grab to seize control of all policing in America and put Democrats in charge of how cops performed their job.
During the press conference, Democrats wore kente robes which are associated with the Asante in West Africa.
The Asante empire participated in the slave trade and millions of Americans were outraged that Nancy Pelosi would appropriate this symbol to make a political point.
USA Today wrote:
The Asante supplied British and Dutch traders with slaves in exchange for firearms, which they used to expand their empire. Slaves were often acquired as tributes from smaller states or captured during war. Some slaves were brought across the Atlantic whiles others stayed in Africa to work in gold fields.
According to the BBC, by the end of the 18th century, the region exported an estimated 6,000-7,000 slaves per year.
By calling Scott’s bill a token, Durbin threw the Democrats off message and allowed Republicans to hammer home the message that their bill was a real attempt to make law while Democrats just wanted to posture and use the issue of police misconduct as an election year wedge.
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