Looking to hear from our Co-Founders, LaTosha Brown and Cliff Albright, on the GA runoff election, power of the Black vote, and more?

 

The Georgia U.S. Senate runoff between Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock is analyzed by voting rights and politics experts live on the ground in Atlanta on the eve of the official voting day. “In Georgia we have critical needs,” voting rights activist LaTosha Brown tells Joy Reid. “I think the people of Georgia are saying… this is the time to really make sure we have representation… that is going to fight for the people of Georgia."

During Monday night’s episode of MSNBC’s "The ReidOut," the anchor spoke to Brown and MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson about the state of the race the evening before election day.

The conversation turned toward how Walker’s GOP allies, namely Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have appeared to prop up the candidate in a way that’s been "insulting" to Black Americans.

Brown began, "Black people are upset, actually they feel insulted."

She explained, "They feel insulted that here the Republicans would actually pick a candidate, and because he was a ballplayer, that in some way, and – if they planted this narrative that Black men were not going to vote and are upset with the Democratic Party – that those two things would be enough for us to be fooled."

Brown added, "We’re far more sophisticated voters than that." The strategist said Black voters are "feeling insulted" by this perceived Republican ploy, which she added, "is racist."

Brown then claimed that Walker’s Democratic opponent, the pro-abortion pastor Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., has a much better connection to Black voters in the south. She said, "Warnock is a Southern Baptist preacher of Martin Luther King’s church. At the end of the day, that’s a lot of history, that’s a lot of connectivity to who we are in the South."

Reid agreed with the notion that Black voters feel "insulted" by the GOP campaign, adding that it has shown them "disrespect."

Specifically mentioning Graham, who has appeared on the campaign trail with Walker throughout the race, she said, "There’s a certain disrespect that a lot of Black men, in particular, feel about particularly the way that Walker has been walked around by people like Lindsey Graham and sort of used and put forward."

The MSNBC anchor added, "They don’t seem to respect him, and they don’t seem to respect Black people."

Reid has previously referred to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as "Uncle Clarence," a clear reference to the "Uncle Tom" slur for Blacks viewed as too deferential to Whites, and has suggested that Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is a token for his party.

Last week, MSNBC contributor Jen Psaki slammed the Walker campaign, claiming that because of the candidate’s "craziness," him "attacking transgender people" with campaign ads and high Democratic Party early voter turnout meant that Warnock’s chances at reelection were good.