Bill Clinton Compares Florida Law To Jim Crow
WASHINGTON (CBSMiami.com) – Governor Rick Scott has made his fair share of enemies in his short time in office. But Wednesday, he was called out by one of the biggest political figures in the country, former President Bill Clinton.
Clinton was giving a speech at the Campus Progress conference and discussing the efforts by GOP-led legislatures across the country to limit voting. Clinton likened the recent laws passed in states, including Florida, to the poll tax and the Jim Crow laws.
Clinton took issue with Scott for trying to prevent convicted felons from voting, even after they have completed their prison sentence.
"Why should we disenfranchise people forever once they've paid their price?" Clinton said, according to Politico.com. "Because most of them in Florida were African Americans and Hispanics who tended to vote for Democrats. That's why."
Clinton isn't the first Democrat to compare the new GOP-led laws to Jim Crow era policies. Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz made a similar comparison, but would distance herself from the comment saying she used the wrong analogy.
