Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) on Saturday hit back at Vivek Ramaswamy for labeling her part of \u201cthe modern KKK,\u201d calling the Republican presidential candidate’s comment “backwards and harmful.”<\/p>\n
\u201cWe typically don\u2019t engage in these bad-faith attacks but yesterday a line was crossed. A GOP candidate referred to Ayanna as \u2018a modern grand wizard of the KKK\u2019 because she speaks out against racial injustice,\u201d Pressley\u2019s team said in a fundraising pitch. \u201cThis is backwards and harmful, but that is the point.\u201d<\/p>\n
A progressive elected to the House in 2018, Pressley was the first woman of color elected to the Boston City Council and is the first Black woman to represent the state in Congress.<\/p>\n
“There is nothing more racist than to assume the color of someone\u2019s skin dictates something about the content of their viewpoints, which is what Ayanna Pressley peddles to Americans,” Ramaswamy’s campaign spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told POLITICO in a statement. “What\u2019s really stunning, is that now she is trying to make money off of it.”<\/p>\n
Ramaswamy’s comment came during a campaign stop in Iowa on Friday, as he tacked on to his argument that progressives exhibit racism when they criticize people of color for not appropriately supporting racial equity.<\/p>\n
When he was asked if critics would blame him for supporting white supremacy, he responded by quoting a previous comment of Pressley\u2019s<\/a> that she did not want any more Black individuals who did not want to be a Black voice, according to NBC News<\/a>. He then critically quoted author Ibram X. Kendi\u2019s book \u201cHow to Be an Anti-Racist,\u201d which conservatives have frequently criticized as pushing critical race theory.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are the words of the modern grand wizards of the modern KKK,\u201d Ramaswamy said, according to NBC.<\/p>\n Lisa Kashinsky contributed to this report. <\/p>\n