Former DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile is not interested in Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce’s hot take on the current social justice movement polarizing the nation. While appearing on Fox and Friends Tuesday morning, the two women got into a heated exchange over what Brazile perceived as an “erasure of her existence.”
The discussion flared up after Bruce attempted to refute Brazile’s assessment of night one of the Republican National Convention. While the political strategist said she was happy to get a glimpse into what messages the GOP is rallying around, Brazile did not think the televised event did anything to sway voters who are not already supporters of the impeached president. Bruce disagreed.
In making her case for why the first night of the RNC was so impactful, Bruce pointed out differences in the messaging that came out of the two conventions. The radio host said people like Sen. Tim Scott and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley showed “that we can deal with racial violence in a way where we can come together.” Attempting to draw a contrast she argued, “no Democrat has spoken out against the violence” that has occurred at protests lifting up the names of Black men and women who have been wrongfully killed or harmed by the police. Bruce suggested that Democrats’ decision not to condemn the demonstrations, went against “American sensibility.”
“Americans have a choice,” Bruce said. “And Republicans are showing an expanse of what the American sensibility is and what the American future is.”
At that point, Brazile had obviously had enough of Bruce’s assessment on American values. In a strong rebuke, the author of Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House told Bruce that she was apart of the choir that “sounds like a note coming from a scratch record.”
“It sounds like I will never be an American in your world,” Brazile countered. “Because after 400 years, my family cannot walk out of this house without fearing violence.”
In condemning the Black Lives Matter protests Brazile also added that Republicans like Bruce have chosen to “ignore the pains of people who are hurting… who just want to breathe.”
Host Brian Kilmeade attempted to interject as Brazile gave her take on Bruce’s comments, but the Fox contributor would not be silenced. “You need to listen as well as talk,” Brazile said before warning Bruce that she will not stop her from telling her story, “the story of people who are struggling to live, to breathe.”
“She ignored the reality of what is happening… because they don’t see it,” Brazile surmised. In suggesting that “Americans” should be against the Black Lives Matter protests, Brazile said Bruce and the GOP failed to recognize the existence of many Black Americans. “I will not allow you to erase my history,” she declared.
Bruce and Kilmeade failed to see Brazile’s point so the host cut away from the segment. But on Twitter, Brazile continued her criticism of night one of the RNC.
“Seriously? Trump has Black friends. So what?” she wrote, obviously taking a jab at the lineup of Black speakers the RNC organized for Monday night’s kickoff. “What about #JacobBlake? What about his friends, his kids who were in the car? Do they matter? You didn’t hear me. We have a story and it must be told.”