On Wednesday, GOP Sen. Tom Cotton was forced to backtrack his own statement after he was called out on the Senate floor for attacking Democrats over a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill that Republicans voted for and was signed into law by then-president Donald Trump.
Taking on the “tough on crime” mantra that Republicans have used for years to score political points, Cotton slammed Democrats for voting for the First Step Act, which reduced some mandatory minimum sentence penalties and aimed to reduce the size of America’s prison population.
“It’s your party who voted in lock step for the First Step Act, that let thousands of violent felons on the street who have now committed innumerable violent crimes,” Cotton said during a speech.
However, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) was quick to call B.S. on Cotton for trying to portray the First Step Act as a Democrat-only initiative, noted Raw Story.
“The First Step Act, the Republicans were in the majority!” Durbin shot back. “It was a bill sponsored by Sens. Grassley, Durbin, Lee, and many others! And who signed it into law? Donald Trump signed it into law, the so-called Democratic measure!”
After Durbin’s speech, Cotton returned to the Senate floor to acknowledge his mistake.
“Yes, it’s true that President Trump signed the First Step Act,” The Arkansas Republican admitted. “It was the worst mistake of the Trump administration. Yes, it’s true that a number of Republican senators voted for it — they were wrong,” he said.
Watch the video below.
Read the original report on Raw Story.
