Democratic New York Rep. Charlie Rangel compared Republicans to members of the Confederate Army during an appearance Tuesday on CNN.
Rangel said that Republicans who “want to bring down our government” are using tactics during the government shutdown similar to the tactics they used when “they fought as confederates.”
“This isn’t a question of the House and senate differing. This not even the question of Republicans and Democrats differing. This is all about a handful of people who got elected as Republicans that want to bring down our government,” Rangel said. “You can see it in the streets. You can see where they’re coming from. And the same way they fought as confederates, they want to bring down the government and reform it.”
“I am telling you one thing. If the Republicans really want to bring the government back, if the republicans want to make certain that this country maintains its physical integrity, all they have to do is accept the Senate,” Rangel said.
The actual Confederacy was dominated entirely by Democrats, whose only serious rival was the Whig Party. Republicans had one seat out of 189 in the Confederate House of Representatives and zero seats out of 36 in the Confederate Senate.