Ted Cruz accuses Democrats of proposing ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ voting legislation

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Wednesday accused Democrats of proposing voter laws that he considered “Jim Crow 2.0” during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

During the hearing, Cruz said the For the People Act, which in part aims to expand ballot access, would “prevent Democrats from being voted out of power.” 

“Today’s congressional Democrats do not believe in the right to vote,” Cruz said. “They do not believe in democracy and they are championing efforts to take away the right to vote from American citizens.”

The Texas senator said that Democrats were the original authors of the Jim Crow laws, which enforced racial segregation in the late 1800s. Cruz added that the only objective of new election laws is to keep Democrats in power for the next hundred years, calling it the “Corrupt Politicians Act.” 

“So what’s Jim Crow 2.0? It’s the latest efforts of Democrats to write laws to prevent the voters from voting Democrats out of power,” Cruz asserted.

Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) used the term “Jim Crow 2.0” on Tuesday in reference to a Republican effort to tighten voting rules in Texas, Florida, Georgia.

“We are always going to push back against these sort of bigoted, racist, Jim Crow 2.0-style voting laws,” Veasey said.

Texas Democratic lawmakers flew to D.C. this week in an attempt to prevent the GOP-controlled state legislature from passing an election reform bill. Their departure meant a quorum could not be reached, thus preventing state business from being conducted.

President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the Republican effort is causing the nation to face a “significant test on Democracy.”

“The 21st century Jim Crow assault is real,” he said. “It’s unrelenting, and we’re going to challenge it vigorously.”