Democratic Lawmaker: 'Elements' of Republican Base 'Animated by Racism

Story by the Associated Press; curated by Dave Urbanski

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican base contains "elements that are animated by racism," according the head of the Democrats' committee to elect members to the House of Representatives.

Image source: CNN via YouTube

Rep. Steve Israel of New York acknowledged Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that "of course not" all Republicans are motivated by racism, yet many in the GOP oppose a bipartisan immigration bill on those grounds.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman was following up on comments by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi last week in which she blamed racial issues for the GOP not acting on comprehensive immigration legislation.

"I think race has something to do with the fact that they're not bringing up an immigration bill," Pelosi told reporters on Thursday.

Oregon's Rep. Greg Walden, who heads Republicans' efforts to elect House members, guested on the program with Israel and countered that Pelosi's comments were "both wrong and unfortunate."

Here's the clip of Israel's "racism" comment: