On Tuesday's MSNBC Live, News One Now managing editor Roland Martin -- a former CNN contributor who is now a recurring MSNBC guest -- charged that the Republican party is the "greatest threat to democracy" in America and even invoked Civil Rights Movement-era racism as he likened Virginia Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte to a Virginia "segregationist" from the past.
As MSNBC host Ali Velshi introduced the segment to discuss the Voter Integrity Commission, he suggested that there is little voter fraud as he began:
Most secretaries of state, most politicians, and you have said to me that the problem in this country with voting is too little of it, not too much of it. We don't actually have a problem with a whole lot of dead people voting or people voting in multiple states. Best I can come up with is a handful of examples, you know, per election. What is this about?
Martin claimed that he does not "align with any party" as he immediately tore into Republicans:
This is about pure politics. Russia is not the greatest threat to democracy in America -- it is the Republican party. I got lots of friends who are Republicans, lots of folks who are Democrats. I don't align with any party. But when you look at what Republicans are doing not just with this commission, but what they have done over the last 10 years, it is clear voter suppression.
A bit later, the left-wing commentator added: "This is the mantra of the Republican party to suppress votes in order to win. It is shameful and despicable, Ali."
Toward the end of the segment, after complaining about several examples of Republican-led actions on the voting system, Martin invoked the era of racial segregation:
It was a guy named -- his last name was Smith -- a segregationist in Virginia -- he wouldn't even have a committee meeting, Ali, during Civil Rights Movement. Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia congressman, won't have a single hearing on the issue of voter integrity in the House because he doesn't want to address it.
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Tuesday, July 11, MSNBC Live:
3:49 p.m. ET
ALI VELSHI: Most secretaries of state, most politicians, and you have said to me that the problem in this country with voting is too little of it, not too much of it. We don't actually have a problem with a whole lot of dead people voting or people voting in multiple states. Best I can come up with is a handful of examples, you know, per election. What is this about?ROLAND MARTIN, NEWS ONE NOW: This is about pure politics. Russia is not the greatest threat to democracy in America -- it is the Republican party. I got lots of friends who are Republicans, lots of folks who are Democrats. I don't align with any party. But when you look at what Republicans are doing not just with this commission, but what they have done over the last 10 years, it is clear voter suppression.
You have Dale Schultz, a state senator, 30 years in Wisconsin, who said he now regrets what they did in voting for those measures in Wisconsin. He said he -- go to Propublica -- just released it about last week -- he challenged his fellow Republicans to say, "Give me examples of voter fraud." They couldn't. He found two. Both involve Republicans. You had, of course, in 2012, a top Republican in Pennsylvania who said voter ID will elect Mitt Romney. Well, they got sued -- the attorney general filed paperwork with the court that said "we have no proof of voter fraud."
This is a fraud. Republicans in Maine, Iowa, North Carolina -- which is the Alabama of the 21st century -- go to Mississippi, Texas, Florida -- we can go on and on. This is the mantra of the Republican party to suppress votes in order to win. It is shameful and despicable, Ali.
VELSHI: And part of this is being pushed by Kris Kobach, the secretary of state for Kansas, who has tried to do this. ... He used as proof an example of a man who he said had died a long time ago but had voted in a recent election, and it turns out that the guy was very much alive, and it was his father who had died. I mean, this is just not proving to be a successful venture.
MARTIN: Greg Palace, the journalist, has been talking about this whole idea of cross-checking. And what they're doing is, they're saying that if there's a Roland Martin in Texas, and a Roland Martin in Michigan, "Oh, that must be the same person." So they're challenging it. In fact, Mother Jones has a piece about three conservatives -- one from Virginia -- one who Trump just put on this commission -- what they're doing is they're sending legal notices to small towns in Mississippi who can't afford legal battles and saying, "Purge your rolls." And you know what they're doing? They can't afford it.
This is a part of the Republican strategy. Colin Powell called out a North Carolina governor a couple of years ago on this very issue. I have challenged black Republicans on my show to do it. And I give you this here: It was a guy named -- his last name was Smith -- a segregationist in Virginia -- he wouldn't even have a committee meeting, Ali, during Civil Rights Movement. Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia congressman, won't have a single hearing on the issue of voter integrity in the House because he doesn't want to address it.
VELSHI: Yeah, it really is a remarkable issue, but, you know, go down the states secretaries of state who have been pushing back on this. Roland, you and I have been talking about voting and making it easier and better for people to vote, and then they have to take that responsibility and actually go out and cast those ballots, which we do a very bad job of in the United States generally speaking.
