MSNBC’s Chris Matthews Uses Anniversary of Lincoln’s Assassination To Call GOP Racist

Today marked yet another tax day come and gone. But, it also marked the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

Over at MSNBC, Hardball host Chris Matthews chose to use the anniversary as a way to slam the GOP for being a bunch of racists by supporting voter ID laws in 36 states. (Newsbusters points out that Rhode Island’s law was passed by a liberal legislature and governor, but it wasn’t worth mentioning by Matthews because it didn’t fit the narrative.)

“[Lincoln] was killed because he fought and won a war that saved the Union,” Matthews said on Hardball. “He was killed fighting still for the right of freed American slaves to vote. And now the Republican Party he helped start is out there in a systemic effort to keep the children of those freed slaves from voting.”

These ID laws require people to have either: a driver’s license, a state-issued ID card, or a military ID card. Proponents of these laws insist that they are in place to prevent voter fraud – such as voting multiple times – while critics maintain that the laws exist to suppress the minority vote.

If you do not have an ID to vote, that means you also cannot: open a bank account, apply for a job, file for unemployment (or welfare or Medicaid or food stamps or Social Security), buy a home, drive a car, get married, pick up a prescription, or even pick up a pack of smokes.

h/t: Newsbusters

What do you think? Are voter ID laws racist? Or are they a necessary precaution?

This post originally appeared on Western Journalism – Equipping You With The Truth