Videos show conservative activists cheering on voter suppression: 'We need to stop those ballots from going out'
When conservatives gathered behind closed doors for conferences of the right-wing Council for National Policy, their talks had a common theme: Voter suppression.
Conservatives met for three days in February and another three in August, maskless regardless of Virginia state policies, to discuss election strategies and other goals, The Washington Post reports. One August speaker was Charlie Kirk, the founder of the college conservative group Turning Point USA. At one point, Kirk pinned college campus shutdowns on Democrats, and then called those purported decisions a "very foolish thing" because it's going to lose them opportunities to "harvest" left-leaning college students' votes, video of the event obtained by the Post reveals. "Please, keep the campuses closed, it's a great thing," he said.
Tom Fitton, president of the conservative group Judicial Watch, was more explicit. He alleged Democrats were "war-gaming" a plan to make House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) president, and used that as a call for conservative action against mail-in ballots. "We need to stop those ballots from going out, and I want the lawyers here to tell us what to do," Fitton said in video obtained by the Post. J. Christian Adams, a former Justice Department official, meanwhile told attendees to oppose mail-in voting and "be not afraid of the accusations that you're a voter suppressor, you're a racist and so forth."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Read more about what CNP attendees had to say about voting at The Washington Post.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Could smaller cars bring down vehicle prices?Today’s Big Question Trump seems to think so, but experts aren’t so sure
-
2025’s most notable new albumsThe Week Recommends These were some of the finest releases of the past year
-
Trump aims to take down ‘global mothership’ of climate scienceIN THE SPOTLIGHT By moving to dismantle Colorado’s National Center for Atmospheric Research, the White House says it is targeting ‘climate alarmism’
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
