senate confirmations
Lindsey Graham tears into NAACP president for favoring liberal Democrats
NAACP President Cornell William Brooks did not mince words when testifying against Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) at his attorney general confirmation hearing before the Senate on Wednesday. Sessions "evinces a clear disregard, disrespect, and even disdain for the civil and human rights of racial and ethnic minorities, women, the disabled, and others who suffer from discrimination in this country," Brooks said, even as Sessions protested such claims.
In response, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) slammed Brooks and the NAACP for having a seemingly partisan agenda. Citing the NAACP's Civil Rights Federal Legislative Scorecards, Graham pointed out that Sessions received only 11 percent, Graham himself got 25 percent, and other Republican members of Congress typically found themselves between the two numbers. On the other hand, many Democrats had 100 percent.
Brooks defended the divide: "The report card is based on legislation, not party affiliation … I might note to the respect of our report card, we've done that for the better part of a century," he said.
But Graham wasn't having it. "I hope that doesn't make us all racist and all of them perfect," Graham sarcastically replied. Watch below. Jeva Lange