Republican Sen. Susan Collins, of Maine, is not happy about remarks made by Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff about her opposition to the Voting Rights Act as he called for “access to the ballot for every single American voter.”
Speaking from the Senate floor on Wednesday, Ossoff challenged Collins over what he characterized as her evolving position on voting rights legislation, pointing out that she has flip-flopped on her support for the Voting Rights legislation.
Ossoff noted that Collins and other senior Republicans voted for a 2006 reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act but opposed a motion to proceed to the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act last year.
Collins made it clear she didn’t appreciate Ossoff’s arguments and warned he was at risk of violating the Senate’s Rule XIX, which bars any senator from imputing “any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a senator.”
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But Ossoff didn’t back down, challenging Collins’s claim that the Voting Rights Act remains substantially intact because the Department of Justice can still challenge new voting laws on the basis that they improperly restrict civil rights.
He argued that a landmark Supreme Court case hollowed out the 1965 act by limiting the Justice Department’s ability to block new voting restrictions before they go into effect.
“Abraham Lincoln must be turning in his grave to hear the senators from the Grand Old Party,” Ossoff said in a provocative opening to his floor speech earlier in the evening, arguing that Senate Republicans today are “echoing” states’ rights arguments “to oppose the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act.”
He pointed out that Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was the only Republican to vote in November to proceed to the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which is intended to reauthorize the 1965 Voting Rights Act and reinstate parts of that law that were thrown out by the Supreme Court in its 2013 decision Shelby County v. Holder.
Ossoff called out four Republican colleagues by name — something that senators usually avoid for fear of ruffling feathers — including Collins, for backing the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in the past but voting against proceeding to the Democrats’ update to that bill.
Collins responded by issuing a mocking comment about Ossoff for being the youngest U.S. senator.
“I’m not sure the senator from Georgia was even born in 1965,” she said. “Surely he is not confusing the current bill with the reauthorization,” she added before suggesting Ossoff was comparing apples to oranges.
“This is entirely different from a debate on a 735-page bill,” she said.
Naturally, Twitter users had to respond.
Watch Jo Ossoff’s full speech and some of the reactions below:
NEW: Susan Collins just made a mocking comment about Jon Ossoff for being the youngest senator after he called out her hypocrisy on the Voting Rights Act of 1965: “I'm not sure the senator from Georgia was even born in 1965,” she said.
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) January 20, 2022
Phony Susan Collins can cry all she wants. Jon Ossoff was right call her out.
— Christian RuizDiaz (@chrisrd05261) January 20, 2022
Susan Collins is concerned about Jon Ossoff calling her out on voting rights tonight
No other way to say it:
I can't fucking *stand* Susan Collins
I couldn't care less how she feels or what she thinks about anything https://t.co/CGSaq8u3Od
— Mona (@Monaheart1229) January 20, 2022
susan collins is a dunce, has always been a dunce, and will always be a dunce, and i’m glad jon ossoff humiliated her.
— World Famous Art Thief (@CalmSporting) January 20, 2022
susan collins is a dunce, has always been a dunce, and will always be a dunce, and i’m glad jon ossoff humiliated her.
— World Famous Art Thief (@CalmSporting) January 20, 2022
Thank you Jon Ossoff.
Calling out Susan Collins for corruption and voter suppression is exactly the kind of Patriots America needs.
"Ossoff and Collins clash over her past support for voting rights legislation | TheHill."https://t.co/0kpAugoMvn
— Murti Bing says, #Impeach! (@murti_bing) January 20, 2022
Susan Collins is a hypocrite and a liar who hates Black people. Glad my senator, Jon @ossoff, called her lying a*s out. Liar, @sensusancollins. #GApol #GAsen #Georgia https://t.co/bzk60X7ml3
— I'm That Type Of Guy (@Marrrrcussss) January 20, 2022
Jon Ossoff will be remembered by history in a far better light than Susan Collins will be. Her failure to keep her word and her wishy washy stands on issues will be her legacy.
— Janet McLamb (@rnj114) January 20, 2022
