MSNBC “Hardball” host Chris Matthews said Tuesday that Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s opinion about states’ rights is reminiscent of the 1915 film “The Birth of a Nation,” which glorified the Ku Klux Klan and provided the hate group with a valuable recruiting tool.
During the Republican presidential debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Perry said voting laws and economic issues are better determined at the state level.
“You know, there’s a ‘Birth of a Nation’ aspect to that,” Matthews said on his Tuesday program. “I can’t even start with it — ‘voting rights,’ ‘we’re at war with …’ — this sounds like ‘Gone with the Wind.’ What’s he talking about? What are we talking about here?”
Politico’s Roger Simon seemed to agree, charging that Perry was playing to a pro-secessionist audience, dating back to the policies advocated by the former South Carolina senator and U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun.
“You said he’s not playing to the audience. This is South Carolina, a state where people proudly tell you they were the first state to secede from the union. Rick Perry began his campaign by saying Texas had a right to secede. He said he wasn’t advocating it, but he said Texas had a right to do so. This is the state of John Calhoun with secession and nullification.”
Watch:
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