Texas Democrat Jasmine Crockett has once again lit up the internet, this time with fiery remarks about why most Black Americans steer clear of the Republican Party. Speaking on a panel at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, the outspoken congresswoman didn’t hold back. “I talk to Black folk all the time as somebody that’s a child of a preacher. Listen, most Black people are not Republicans simply because we just is like, ‘Y’all racist. I can’t hang out with the KKK and them.’ That’s really what it is,” Crockett declared.
She went even further, pointing out that while many Black Americans actually share conservative values, the GOP’s association with hate groups is a dealbreaker. “But when we think about who we are as Black people, and we think about where we come from, most Black people have very conservative values, right?
But the reality is that like, we just can’t side with like the neo-Nazis and them. We like, ‘We not-, we not dealing with y’all like that, right?’” she added. Her raw honesty drew applause in the room — but online, it set off a storm. MAGA loyalists and right-wing critics pounced. “The democrats were the KKK. She’s such a liar,” one angry X user fired back. Another piled on: “Let’s get the facts straight: The Ku Klux Klan was founded and run by Democrats during the Reconstruction era, not Republicans.
Crockett’s claim that Black people avoid the Republican Party because of perceived ties to the KKK is not just misleading—it’s a deliberate distortion of history. The realignment during the Civil Rights Movement saw many segregationist Democrats switch to the Republican Party, a fact she conveniently ignores.”
Others skipped the history lesson and went straight for insults, mocking the way Crockett spoke. “How embarrassing that she speaks in that ghetto Ebonics trash. She is trash,” one critic wrote. Another bluntly called her “racist” and a “hater.” Of course, the truth is a lot more complicated.
🚨NEW: Victor Davis Hanson *TORCHES* Jasmine Crockett🚨
"Jasmine Crockett is like a Christmas gift to the Republicans that was gift-wrapped."
"Here's this preppy woman who went to prep school … and then she gets in the House from Texas and she doesn't do anything — other than… pic.twitter.com/KGLCuilb9X
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) August 16, 2025
The KKK did have deep ties to Southern Democrats in the 19th and early 20th centuries. But the civil rights battles of the 1960s flipped the script, driving segregationists into the GOP. Republicans then leaned into what became known as the “Southern Strategy,” appealing to disaffected white voters.
Even in more recent decades, former KKK grand wizard David Duke ran for office as a Republican and later endorsed Donald Trump in 2016. Studies also show counties with active Klan chapters trended Republican over time. So while Crockett’s words cut deep, they’re rooted in a long, messy history, one that continues to haunt American politics today.
