Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s decision to support keeping the Senate filibuster rule and thus preventing her party from passing a federal election overhaul bill sparked outrage from liberals who are accusing her of being racist.
"I'm not kidding about @kyrstensinema - it's all about race," political consultant Tom Watson tweeted. "If you're wondering what the "Sinema secret" is, that's it. Black people. There's no real mystery here. Plain old bigot. Occam's razor. The mask is off."
Watson added in another tweet that Sinema has chosen the side of "white supremacy" and that’s "what defines her now."
Liberal professor Jeff Jarvis responded to the tweet with the hashtag #SinemaSoWhite.
Former television anchor Keith Olbermann called on Sinema to resign, labeled her a "menace to the continuation of American democracy," and accused her of "undoing" the Civil Rights legacy of the late Congressman John Lewis.
SINEMA DOUBLES DOWN ON FILIBUSTER SUPPORT, DEALING LIKELY FATAL BLOW TO DEMS' ELECTION BILLS
"Krysten Sinema is the co-worker that swears she’s an ally but always finds a way to chuckle when the racist jokes come out," strategist and former Democratic Senate candidate Michael Starr Hopkins tweeted.
U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman called Sinema a "traitor" to the legacy of John Lewis.
Sinema said Thursday that she will not vote to weaken the Senate's 60-vote filibuster threshold, bucking her party leaders and dealing a major blow to Democrat plans on passing a federal election overhaul bill.
"There's no need for me to restate my longstanding support for the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation. There's no need for me to restate its role in protecting our country from wild reversals of federal policy," Sinema said. "This week's harried discussions about Senate rules are but a poor substitute for what I believe could have and should have been a thoughtful public debate at any time over the past year."
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Sinema’s refusal to bend on her filibuster stance comes days after President Biden gave a racially-charged speech on Tuesday in an effort to gin up support for suspending the filibuster. In the speech, Biden accused those who don’t support pushing through the election overhaul bill by suspending the filibuster of being on the side of prominent Democrat segregationists like Bull Connor and George Wallace.
Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report