Some liberal journalists just can't get the notion out of their minds that George Wallace was a Republican, even though the former segregationist governor of Alabama was a lifelong Democrat. On Friday's Washington Week on PBS, host Robert Costa -- also a Washington Post reporter -- suggested that Wallace was a part of the Republican party's "past" as he recalled that some black voters in Alabama are worried about the direction the GOP is taking. Costa:
I spoke to a lot of African-American voters when I was down there, Jeff, and they said that they're worried that the Republican Party -- broadly speaking -- is turning back to its past. They cited the former governor of Alabama, George Wallace, a segregationist, and they say, in Roy Moore -- sometimes even in President Trump -- they hear echoes of a past that makes them uncomfortable.
Not one of the four panel members jumped in to correct the suggestion that Wallace was ever a Republican as CNN's Jeff Zeleny, CBS's Nancy Cordes, NBC's Kristen Welker, and Vice News's Shawna Thomas got their turns to speak. Cordes suggested that the RNC would be hurt by their decision to fund Roy Moore as she vaguely claimed he had made racist comments the week before the special election. Cordes:
And I do think that the fact that the RNC decided at the end to get back into this race and back Roy Moore is a decision that is going to haunt them because -- had they not done that -- people could have said, "Well, this is the President popping off and he's impulsive -- of course he couldn't resist backing Roy Moore, but the party doesn't believe in someone like Roy Moore who has espoused racist views as recently as last week of the race." But because the RNC did get back in and support him financially, it's much more difficult for Republicans to make that case.
