For the last few weeks, Republicans have been repeating a single talking point ad nauseam, that Democratic voters are an “angry, unhinged mob” who terrorize unsuspecting conservative lawmakers and members of the Trump administration whenever they go out in public. This narrative is laughable for so many reasons—chief among them that it requires us to suspend disbelief and buy into the idea that Republican politicians are innocent bystanders who aren’t actively engaging in lies and deceit and aren’t harming people with their violent policies and practices. News flash: They are. And they deserve every bit of public shaming we can heap on them for the inhumane, vile, and destructive behavior their party embodies and the way it’s destroying our democracy.
But more importantly, we can never forget that they are the party of violence, both figuratively and literally, as evidenced by Georgia U.S. Senator David Perdue’s disgusting display earlier this month at Georgia Tech. Perdue was on campus campaigning for the state’s current Republican secretary of state and chief architect of voter suppression, Brian Kemp, who is also running for governor. When a student asked about Kemp’s suppression tactics (remember, he’s purged millions of mostly black and brown voters from the rolls since taking office in 2010), Perdue bullied the student and knocked his cell phone (which he was using to record the conversation) right out of his hand.
On Monday, that same Georgia Tech student, junior Nathan Knauf, filed a lawsuit against Perdue for unlawful battery. According to Talking Points Memo, Knauf says the following:
“I was polite and respectful as I started to ask a question that is important to me and is, in fact, important to the health of our Democracy,” Knauf said in a statement. “Instead of answering in a civil and respectful way, Sen. Perdue ripped the phone out of my hands.”
Of course, Perdue is not just denying it: He’s straight-up lying about what happened. He claims he was asked for a picture and went to take selfie when he dropped the phone. But the video proves otherwise. Which is why Knauf’s attorney claims the “cell phone is an extension of the hand and Sen. Perdue committed battery when he touched the student’s hand and pulled the cell phone away from the student.”
The lawsuit isn’t likely to bankrupt Perdue. In fact, Knauf has requested a trial by jury and damages of $10 or more. Though he won’t get it, it would be great if a jury sent a message to Perdue that violence against your own constituents is completely unacceptable and awarded Knauf one million dollars while sentencing Perdue to time in prison. But since we can’t get that, we can only hope that this video is shown over and over again and used as an example of how unfit he is to serve when Perdue is up for re-election in 2020.
Sen. David Perdue is a bully. But that’s exactly what this modern day GOP is under Donald Trump. Bullies, white supremacists, power-hungry losers who have to steal votes because they can’t win elections on their own, and evil to the core. And we should never let them forget that we see them for exactly who they are. #NeverForget.