Former GOP Chair Torches Bill Barr For Comparing Coronavirus Restrictions To Slavery

Former chair of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, ripped into William Barr on Thursday after the attorney general compared coronavirus restrictions to slavery.

During an interview with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace, Steele called Barr’s assertion “an insult on the families and the legacies of the men and women who were a part of that horrendous system.”

“That’s what you said – that wearing a mask is the equivalent of being enslaved,” Steele said, addressing Barr directly. “We’ll just let that stupid rest on its own, because that’s what it is. And we just need to stop pretending that these people are serious players.”

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Steele said:

The fact of the matter is, first off you’re the attorney general. You don’t make policy, right? You don’t have any say. You are to uphold and execute the laws of the United States. You are to make sure that the criminal justice system works appropriately, et cetera, et cetera. You don’t get into the minutiae of whether or not a policy is this or like that, but the fact that you are tells America everything we need to know. What your role is as attorney general of this country is not to serve the American people and to be their representative, but to carry out the talking points and the dog whistles for Donald Trump. Again, one more reason to vote them out in November. … I actually wasn’t even going to address that level of crazy ignorance, because that on its — I think Jim Clyburn’s words stand for themselves. They speak to the moment, very declaratively, in a very clear way. The fact that you would make that kind of comparison is an insult on the families and the legacies of the men and women who were a part of that horrendous system, and the legacies that they have left behind and shows, again, not just tone deafness – this is beyond tone deafness. It’s an acute disdain for what slavery means and has meant to African Americans for over 400 years, that you can just offhandedly say that something like putting a mask on is a greater offense or an equal offense than slavery. Because that’s what you said. That’s what you said. That wearing a mask is the equivalent of being enslaved. Okay, so we’ll just let that stupid rest on its own, because that’s what it is. And we just need to stop pretending that these people are serious players. They’re not.

Barr is working overtime to prop up Trump’s flailing campaign

Instead of doing his job, which is to uphold the rule of law, William Barr is actively seeking to prop up Donald Trump’s flailing presidential campaign.

Barr’s comments about coronavirus restrictions and slavery are basically pulled right from the Trump campaign playbook. As Politico noted on Thursday, the attorney general’s remarks “appear to dovetail with key themes of President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign.”

With Election Day fast approaching, Barr sounds more like a Trump campaign official and Fox News commentator than he does a U.S. attorney general.

As Michael Steele said on Thursday, this is just another reason why Donald Trump and his corrupt attorney general should be removed from power on Nov. 3.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.