DNC Chair Has Literal Problem with Defining ‘Literally'

(CNSNews.com) – Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, recently walked back from her accusation in an interview on Sunday of “Republicans who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws.”

In that same interview she said Republicans “are literally just throwing a barrier in the way of someone who is trying to exercise their right to vote.”

She clarified the comment.

“Jim Crow was the wrong analogy to use,” Wasserman Schultz told CNN. The problem is that an “analogy” is nearly the opposite of “literally.” Wasserman Schultz, in April, misused the phrase.
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In an April 6 broadcast on MSNBC, Wasserman Shultz was seen criticizing the proposal by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to reduce the deficit by $6 trillion in 10 years.

“This plan would literally be a death trap for some seniors,” Wasserman Schultz said.

In the context of these two examples Wasserman Schultz believes that: 1.) Republicans would legislative reinstate the racist laws of the segregated south that existed prior to the 1960s, generally called the Jim Crow Laws; and 2.) that Ryan would set an actual “death trap” for senior citizens.

The word 'literally' is defined as meaning actual or not figuratively speaking.

The word 'analogy' is defined as “if two or more things agree with one another in some respects they will probably agree in others,” or “a resemblance in some particulars between things otherwise unalike.”

In an interview on TV One on Sunday, Wasserman Schultz was asked about proposals in several state legislatures to fight voter fraud. This included photo identification proposals.

“If you go back to the year 2000, when we had an obvious disaster and saw that our voting process needed refinement, and we did that in the America votes act and made sure that we could iron out those kinks,” Wasserman Schultz said in the interview. “Now we have the Republicans who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally and very transparently block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote for Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. And its nothing short of that blatant.”




She went on to say the laws were directly targeting black voters.

“Photo I.D. laws we think are very similar to a poll tax,” she said. “Just look at African American voters as a snap shot. About 25 percent of African American voters don’t have a valid photo ID. The reason it’s similar to a poll tax you’ve got the expense, you’ve got the effort. There is difficulty for many people in getting a photo ID. So you are literally just throwing a barrier in the way of someone who is trying to exercise their right to vote.”

“And the reason it’s not necessary is because we already have very legitimate voter verification processes -- signature checks that are already in place,” she added. “And there is so little voter fraud, which is the professed reason Republicans are advancing these laws. There is so little voter fraud. You are more likely to get hit by lighting than you are to see an instance of voter fraud in this country. But, Republicans are imposing laws all over the country acting like voter fraud is rampant and it’s ridiculous.”



h/t to Bob Parks for his assistance.