CNN contributor Bakari Sellers compared modern Republicans to the Ku Klux Klan during a heated discussion about redistricting and election rules on CNN’s “NewsNight.”
The remarks came during a segment focused on President Donald Trump’s push for Republican states to pursue congressional redistricting efforts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Host Abby Phillip mentioned Trump encouraging South Carolina Republicans to move forward with redistricting changes and adjustments to the state’s election calendar, arguing the developments were creating confusion around ongoing voting.
“We’re going beyond new maps here,” Phillip said. “And now we’re tinkering with the calendar, people are voting. Maybe those votes get thrown out. It’s chaos.”
Sellers responded by accusing Republicans of undermining voting rights and compared current political battles over redistricting to much darker periods in American history.
“I think Ashley and I have to wrestle with the fact that we are going to be the first generation to actually leave this country worse than the one that we inherited,” Sellers said.
The Democratic commentator went on to argue that Black Americans are watching civil rights progress being reversed.
“If somebody fell asleep in 1896 and woke up today in 2026, they would simply say, the only difference is now Negroes have a TV show and we wear nice suits,” Sellers said.
He then escalated the comparison further by invoking the Ku Klux Klan.
“They swapped out Klan hoods for Brooks Brothers suits,” Sellers said. “And that is the problem.”
Sellers also referenced the Supreme Court’s 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision, which upheld racial segregation laws and helped pave the way for decades of Jim Crow policies in the South.
“What we have with this court right now, what we’re seeing is watching people who have fought and died and bled so that we would have access to the ballot box so that we would have access to our voices being heard in Congress being ripped away,” Sellers said.
The CNN contributor further claimed black voters across the South were being politically silenced through redistricting battles and election law changes.
“And I don’t find that to be a laughing matter,” he added.
The comments quickly generated backlash online, particularly from conservatives who accused Sellers of using inflammatory rhetoric and equating ordinary political activity with racial terrorism.
Critics argued comparisons between GOP lawmakers and the Ku Klux Klan reflected the increasingly extreme tone of political discourse on cable news and social media. Many also pointed out that Democrats have frequently defended aggressive redistricting efforts in blue states while condemning similar tactics when pursued by Republicans.
The controversy also reignited broader frustration among many voters over a normalized pattern of hysterical political comparisons in modern Democratic rhetoric. Opponents argue that constantly invoking Hitler, fascism, Jim Crow and the Ku Klux Klan to describe mainstream Republican politicians has diluted the historical meaning and gravity of those atrocities.
Some political observers noted that such rhetoric long predates Trump’s rise in politics. Republican figures like Mitt Romney and the late Sen. John McCain — both widely viewed by many Americans as conventional establishment conservatives — were also accused by some Democratic activists and commentators during past elections of enabling fascism, racism or authoritarianism.
Critics argue that because these comparisons have been repeatedly applied to nearly every Republican nominee or conservative policy dispute for decades, many voters have become increasingly desensitized to the language. As a result, opponents say terms like “fascist,” “Nazi” and “white supremacist” no longer carry the same cultural weight they once did because they are now frequently used in routine partisan disagreements.
The debate comes as redistricting fights intensify nationwide ahead of the 2026 midterms, with both parties seeking favorable congressional maps.
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CNN is a dangerous propagandist media outlet that is the real promoter of hate and divisiveness.
Who started the KKK
Who hired slaves and promoted slaves, the Dixiecrats of the south.
Who fought against abolition of slavery, Democrats
Who fought against the civil rights act and voter rights The Democrats
Who led.the war of Union soldiers fighting to free slaves? Republicans.
Who supported Jim Crow,? Democrats.
Who fights for abortion in mainly urban poor cities? Democrats.
Who is anti religion and anti freedom of speech? Democrats
Who bad mouths minorities having the right to vote for republicans? Democrats.
All the values that were the foundation of the US constitution were conservative values, life liberty, god, family, and liberty. Democrats only hold the views of crushing the family, eliminating god, promoting alternative lifestyles that are the demise of families.
ENOUGH!!! This is why people are switching parties 4:1. 4 democrats becoming Republican VS Republicans switching to Democrat.
Minorities in this country are more bound to the values of Family, god, and Life.
Democrats are being exposed. Their voices are only white liberals who virtue signal not for the good of the people they THINK need their voices, but for the “feel good” of themselves who are so out of touch,
Keren … why do you capitalize ‘Family, ‘Life’, but not ‘God’?
While I agree with most of what you write, this gives me a feeling about you that isn’t good!
This is ‘rich’,
The KKK was, and still is, the ‘military arm’ of the DEMOCRATIC party.
The Plessy vs Ferguson decision was backed by, look for it, the DEMOCRATIC party.
The democrats passed these rules and laws that kept the people of African descent under apartheid for many long years.
Yet many people of African descent still believe that they should vote democratic.
It’s like voting for the fox over the hens.
If a political party is constantly voting for rules and laws that are against you, why support them?
Don’t follow tradition … THINK and vote for common sense!