you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again

http://archive.is -> https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/31/want-proof-that-republicans-want-suppress-voters-just-ask-trump/

In an interview on “Fox & Friends,” Trump referenced proposals from Democrats in the coronavirus stimulus negotiations that would have vastly increased funding for absentee and vote-by-mail options. The final package included $400 million for the effort, which was far less than what Democrats had sought.
“The things they had in there were crazy,” Trump said. “They had things — levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”

levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again

Arizona Representative Walt Blackman wants you to know that George Floyd was a criminal, not really a good person, and definitely "not a hero."

Not that he thinks Floyd deserved to be killed by a police officer, mind you. The Republican lawmaker from Snowflake — who, like Floyd, is black — points that out every few minutes in a lengthy video he posted to Facebook and Twitter today.

But the main theme of the video is that Floyd has a criminal background and "the left" should not put him on a pedestal.

Floyd died on May 25 when a Minneapolis cop arresting him on suspicion of passing a fake $20 bill snuffed out his life by kneeling on his neck for eight minutes. Video of Floyd's gruesome death inflamed people from coast to coast, pushing Americans into the streets for massive protests and resulting in a government crackdown that included nightly curfews. The now-fired officer, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with second-degree murder, and three other police who stood by as Floyd died have been charged with crimes.

"I DO NOT support George Floyd and I refuse to see him as a martyr," Blackman posted on his Twitter site on June 4 when he shared his video. "But I hope his family receives justice."

In the 47-minute video, Blackman is seen obtaining information from a viral video that right-wing activist Candace Owens published on Wednesday with essentially the same theme. Blackman rips the idea of putting Floyd's face on a T-shirt or portraying him as an "upstanding man."

"This individual is not cotton candy," he says. Floyd had been sent to prison five times, and once held a gun to the stomach of a pregnant woman while committing a home invasion with accomplices, Blackman says.

He admits "some people are going to be pissed off at me" for his comments, but "we shouldn't stand for this ... he is not a hero. He had a criminal background, he had criminal intent."

Blackman has at times been a champion of criminal-justice reform in the Legislature. Last year, he introduced a bill, unsuccessful in the end, that would have been among the most significant reforms in 25 years. He drew criticism from reform groups last year, though, when he voted for a bill that gave people a five-year sentence for possessing illegally even a small amount of fentanyl.

On Wednesday, Blackman told KFYI radio that Black Lives Matter was a "terrorist organization."