Jim Clyburn and Ron Johnson

Dear Commons Community,

Representative  Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) commented yesterday on  Sen. Ron Johnson’s  references to Black Lives Matter in the wake of the  U.S. Capitol riot on January 6th.

Clyburn, the House Majority Whip, during an interview on CNN with anchor Don Lemon said:

“I heard it the way he meant it…You know, the moment he said or prefaced his last statement, ‘I know I’m going to get in trouble for this,’ then went on to say it, said to me he knew exactly what he was saying, he knew why he was saying it, he knew exactly how the reactions would be. He just didn’t care.”

“The guy is a racist,” Clyburn added. “This is not the first time he has indicated such.”

Johnson has on multiple occasions defended the Jan. 6 insurrectionists and downplayed their storming of the Capitol. He told a conservative radio host last week that he was not frightened by the pro-Trump mob ― which was largely white ― and called them “people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement [and] would never do anything to break a law.” 

More than 300 people have been charged with federal offenses linked to the insurrection, including the assault of police officers. A Capitol Police officer was among the five deaths stemming from the attack.

But if it had been members of Black Lives Matter and Antifa marching on the Capitol that day, Johnson said he would have been “concerned.”

After receiving backlash, Johnson insisted his comments had nothing to do with race and were “completely innocuous.” He wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal claiming the left was trying to silence him and manipulate his meaning.

The hashtag #ResignRon trended on Twitter yesterday after progressive PAC MeidasTouch released a video about the senator’s comments and called on him to resign.

Clyburn has it right.  Johnson is a racist and does not deserve to be in the U.S. Senate.

Tony

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