Defamatory name-calling is becoming a disturbing and popular method to silence those with opposing viewpoints in American politics.
During a House Oversight and Reform subcommittee last week, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) lambasted acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinnelli, simply for his views on the nation’s immigration policies.
Using hyperbole, Wasserman Schultz stated, “You and Mr. Trump don’t want anyone who looks or talks differently than Caucasian Americans to be allowed in this country.”
Rather than allowing him to respond to the smear, Wassermann Schultz continued, “You want to block all immigration and make life harder for immigrants, and you have demonstrated that you will pursue this heinous white supremacist ideology at all costs, even if it means making critically ill children your collateral damage in the process, and this goes to a comprehensive pattern of harm at the USCIS under your leadership.”
Despite not providing a single piece of evidence to support her claims, the lawmaker continued to degrade Cuccinelli and denied him any opportunity to defend his reputation at a hearing attended and watched by many.
The radical Wasserman Schultz did not back away from her claims despite having a couple days to collect herself. In a CNN interview, she doubled-down on her remarks saying, “Ken Cuccinelli is the tip of the spear of a white supremacist ideology that is the thread of the President’s immigration policy targeting people of color.”
Cuccinnelli had the opportunity to set the record straight in a follow-up interview with Fox News. “…she wasn’t at much of the committee hearing. She came in, laid on her smears on both me and the president—all completely false, and then wasn’t there much longer…It was a fly by for her to get her little soundbite. “
The Congresswoman’s remarks are worrisome, to say the least. Conflating an appointed government official who simply aims to reform the nation’s immigration policies to prioritize Americans (of all ethnic backgrounds) and bon a fide immigrants with those who believe that whites are superior to other races, is a complete disgrace and contributes to the growing polarization of the country.
As an elected public official, Wasserman Schultz must recognize the power of her words and stop with the political theatre. Ad hominem attacks have no place in American political discourse, especially when the nation is looking for solutions to solve its border crisis. Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz’s constituents deserve better from her. Democrats deserve better from her. And Americans deserve better from her.
