In a speech made to a gathering of Texas Republicans last month, tea party activist Ken Emanuelson claimed that the GOP does not want black people to vote unless they do so for Republican candidates.
“I’m going to be real honest with you, the Republican Party doesn’t want black people to vote if they’re going to vote 9-to-1 for Democrats,” Emanuelson said at a May 20 “Battlefield Dallas” event in Dallas, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Emanuelson later backtracked in a note posted to his Facebook page, claiming he “misspoke.”
“What I meant, and should have said, is that it is not, in my personal opinion, in the interests of the Republican Party to spend its own time and energy working to generally increase the number of Democratic voters at the polls, and at this point in time, nine of every ten African American voters cast their votes for the Democratic Party,” he wrote on Tuesday.
Rep. Marc Veasey, a Democratic freshman whose district includes parts of Dallas County, responded to Emanuelson’s comment in an email sent today to Battleground Texas supporters.
“Together, we can turn this cowardly attack into the catalyst that makes our movement stronger,” Veasey said, according to the Chronicle. “Battlefield Dallas and its tea party ilk have shown their true colors and now it’s time to hold them accountable.”
