Megan Udinski, FISM News
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Progressives are praising Franita Tolson for going “toe-to-toe” with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in a hearing on Wednesday to restore the Voting Rights Act.
Franita Tolson, law professor and Vice Dean at University of Southern California and election law analyst for CNN, was one of three witnesses for the Democrats in the hearing. Her response to one of Cruz’s questions has gone viral for her “fiery” tone. In the interview Tolson says that voter I.D.’s can be racist depending on the intent behind them.
Sen. Ted Cruz: "What voter I.D. laws are racist?"
Professor Franita Tolson: "Apologies Mr. Cruz, your state of Texas, perhaps." pic.twitter.com/men5LnJgrg
— The Hill (@thehill) September 22, 2021
In an interview with CNN, Tolson remarked, “I think he wanted me and my colleagues to be in a fund-raising video, he wanted some sound bite of us saying voter I.D. laws…that we think they’re racist and don’t further the cause of election integrity. I refuse to be a sound bite and my colleagues as well.”
Although she never answered the question directly, her testimony makes clear that she believes laws to increase voter integrity are controlled by racist intent. She also posted on Twitter ,“Because it is,” in response to the Hill’s article titled “Professor tells Cruz that Texas’s voter ID law is racist.”
While this clip has become viral, Cruz shared on Twitter another excerpt from the hearing which shows the remainder of the interaction. In it, two other expert witnesses’ said they do not believe voter laws to be racist, with one stating that the law has a provision to provide an I.D. for those who don’t have one. Cruz also shares statistics showing that the majority of the American public are also supportive of voter I.D. laws, including a high percentage of minorities.
CNN selectively edited this portion of the Judiciary hearing yesterday, only showing their viewers the 3 Democrat witnesses. CNN did not show what the other two witnesses testified.
As Paul Harvey put it, here is the rest of the story: https://t.co/KqBCCXFjl1 pic.twitter.com/Nnuc68OKBj
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) September 23, 2021
In the full exchange, Sen. Cruz said that the reason the Democratic party is really against voter ID laws is because they want to “ensure that Democrats stay in power.”
Voter I.D. laws have become one of many recently hotly debated topics in the U.S, with Democrats and Republicans staunchly opposed to one another. The Democrats are promoting the narrative that they want to remove obstacles and increase access for minority voters to have a voice. Republicans are espousing that voter I.D. laws are a simple, logical way to ensure a fair election, by decreasing voter fraud and ensuring that all votes, regardless of race, are counted properly.
This instance is one example of how the media drives the of the narrative by only showing their side of the narrative.