Jemele Hill, Notorious for Anti-Trump Tweets, Claims Electoral College Was Created To 'Preserve Slavery'
Jemele Hill, a former ESPN host who once called President Donald Trump a “white supremacist,” is now indicting the Electoral College as designed to preserve slavery.
The Electoral College was created when the Constitution was drawn up in 1787. It assigns states a given number of electors based on their representation in Congress and the Senate.
In a presidential election, voters actually vote for electors pledged to vote for one of the candidates, and not the candidates themselves.
Although debates over the merits of the Electoral College occur from time to time, they reached new heights after the 2016 election. In that contest, Trump won the election, which is based on electoral votes.
Disappointed Democrats, noting that Hillary Clinton used massive leads in California and New York to win the popular vote, redoubled calls to do away with the Electoral College.
Into that partisan cauldron, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, a long-shot contender for the Democratic nomination in 2020, tweeted that the popular vote has its own problems.
“The problem with deciding Presidential elections via popular vote is that candidates would naturally campaign in urban areas with big media markets and their policies would follow suit. Better to have proportional electoral college votes in each state so you campaign everywhere,” he tweeted.
The problem with deciding Presidential elections via popular vote is that candidates would naturally campaign in urban areas with big media markets and their policies would follow suit. Better to have proportional electoral college votes in each state so you campaign everywhere.
— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYangVFA) March 17, 2019
Hill was quick to reply.
“Nah. People who live in cities that truly represent the diversity of America should set the course. The electoral college is outdated, and was there to preserve slavery. We need to move on,” she tweeted.
Nah. People who live in cities that truly represent the diversity of America should set the course. The electoral college is outdated, and was there to preserve slavery. We need to move on. https://t.co/vRykoYcPle
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) March 18, 2019
Hill’s foray into constitutional politics puts her in the same corner with Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who last fall made a similar allegation about the Electoral College.
“It is well past time we eliminate the Electoral College, a shadow of slavery’s power on America today that undermines our nation as a democratic republic,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
It is well past time we eliminate the Electoral College, a shadow of slavery’s power on America today that undermines our nation as a democratic republic. https://t.co/00HZN3MI6F
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 6, 2018
Some voices on Twitter said that the Electoral College was not as bad as all that.
Ultimately, the Electoral College contributed to ending slavery, since Abraham Lincoln, having earned only 39.9% of the popular vote in 1860, nevertheless won a crushing victory in the Electoral College-Allen Guelzo https://t.co/ierxPJl0M3
— James Fanning (@JamesFanning11) March 18, 2019
Ha ha ha? preserve slavery? Really. Wow I feel sorry for you and everyone that thinks like you. Must be miserable.
— Travis Kohl (@foosmaniac) March 18, 2019
Nope pic.twitter.com/ATV0eFuMzH
— Steve (@puttertke) March 18, 2019
Jemele, are you suggesting people who don’t live in urbanized areas be disenfrachised? And how would you define a city?
— Donald Schuster (@karres1) March 18, 2019
Calls for change in the Electoral College have also given new life to the national popular vote effort, in which 12 states so far have said they will throw out the system of electoral votes once enough states agree that popular votes will be used to elect the president.
So far, states agreeing to use the popular vote account for 181 electoral votes.
The system, so the partner states have agreed, would begin when states totaling 270 electoral votes sign on, according to CNN.
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