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DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin’s Statement on Jason Lewis’ History of Sowing Divisiveness and Racist Comments

06/22/2020

Lewis set to denounce police reform in front of Minneapolis Third Precinct Police Headquarters

 

Today, DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin released the following statement on Republican Senate candidate Jason Lewis’ history of spreading divisiveness and partisanship, including past comments disparaging communities of color.

This comes as Lewis is set to hold a press conference this afternoon denouncing the need for police reform and denying the systemic racism that is embedded in our country.

Lewis has repeatedly circulated a false claim commonly pushed by white supremacists that white people are disproportionately killed by Black people, and he used his past conservative talk show to declare that “White Lives Matter.”

“Once again, Jason Lewis proves he’s not interested in finding solutions to problems we face, but rather exploits them for his own partisan gain,” said DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin “He denies any wrongdoing in our systems, and ignores Minnesotans’ demands for reform. Lewis has repeatedly demeaned communities of color, and his ignorant views of the Black community prove he is unfit to serve all Minnesotans in the U.S. Senate.”

The DFL has previously highlighted Lewis’ racist comments such as claiming that the problem in the Black community is the “gangsta culture,” saying that Black people on welfare “traded one plantation for another,” and comparing progressive income tax brackets to slavery.