On CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Congressional Black Caucus chairman Emanuel Cleaver took issue with claims that Republicans are waging a “war on women,” calling the charge “wrong.”
Cleaver took issue with many of the exaggerations in the political debate, and pointed to the pro-union opposition of Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker as an example.
“Look, some Democrats called Gov. Walker of Wisconsin ‘Hitler,’” Cleaver said. “They likened him to Hitler and they held up posters. I’m a Democrat. I condemned that. Hitler killed 8 million people. Gov. Walker is trying to kill a union. There is no comparison. And so that was wrong. We have got to quit exaggerating our political differences.”
And he made that point to condemn those on the right who have suggested that President Barack Obama is engaged in a war on religion.
“If you believe that the president is a Christian, why would you still come to the belief that he’s trying to destroy religion in this country?” Cleaver asked. “I think we’ve got to stop that. That is not doing this country any good at all. And the truth of the matter is we know better. We know better, those of us who are in the public eye.”
Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, then put it to Cleaver to apply the same principle to the Democratic Party’s attacks on Republicans that they are waging a “war on women.”
“Yes, that is wrong,” Cleaver said. “And I’ve never said it, not one time.”