Trump's Pick In Minnesota Senate Race Has A History Of Racist Comments
President Donald Trump’s pick to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate, the former GOP Rep. Jason Lewis, once used his radio show to proclaim “White Lives Matter” while pushing an argument about gun violence used by white supremacists, according to audio obtained and reviewed by HuffPost.
Lewis was elected to serve one term in Minnesota in 2016 before voters gave him the boot in the 2018 midterms. Now, Trump wants him to help turn the blue state red in 2020.
The former congressman’s history of controversial comments is well-known ― he hosted “The Jason Lewis Show” on a Minnesota radio station for several years and once alleged that Jewish Americans have a “dual loyalty” to America and Israel, although that will not stop the chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition, former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, from hosting a Lewis fundraiser alongside Donald Trump Jr. later this month.
Lewis’ Aug. 29, 2015, musings on race have not yet been widely reported, however.
“We are still stuck in this narrative that the only crime that happens is white people killing Black people,” Lewis said on the show, referring to the Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality and discrimination. Just two months previously, a young white supremacist opened fire on a Black church in South Carolina, killing nine people.
Lewis continued: “Wouldn’t it be nice for a little truth and honesty in all of this? Wouldn’t it be nice if somebody could stand up and say, ‘All Lives Matter’? Until they do, maybe it’s time somebody said, ‘White Lives Matter.’”
Both “All Lives Matter” and “White Lives Matter” emerged as responses to Black Lives Matter. While the former serves to erase the social justice concerns of Black Lives Matter, the latter is categorized by Southern Poverty Law Center as a neo-Nazi hate group.
Lewis’ campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lewis then incorrectly claimed that white people...
