Tom Cotton Blamed Democrats For A Trump Crime Bill & Twitter Users Had A Lot To Say
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Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) bizarrely attacked Democrats on Wednesday for supporting criminal justice reform legislation aimed at reducing the size of America’s prison population.
Sadly for him, the First Step Act — which Cotton was condemning — was actuallysigned into law by former President Donald Trump in 2018.
“It’s your party who voted in lock step for the First Step Act, that let thousands of violent felons on the street who have now committed innumerable violent crimes,” Cotton said during a speech in the Senate.
“The First Step Act, the Republicans were in the majority,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who co-sponsored the legislation, responded incredulously, adding that it was also co-sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
Many Twitter users were happy to join in and mock Cotton’s failed attempt at political gamesmanship.
How rude of Durbin to point out that Tom Cotton is blatantly lying. https://t.co/VACcohGGZZ
— Khashoggi’s Ghost (@UROCKlive1) February 16, 2022
Google is free @SenTomCottonhttps://t.co/xxqdLmkpxB
— Artist formerly known as Deven Nunez Cow (@EmmReef) February 16, 2022
Sometimes I try to imagine Tom Cotton's inner life, and all I get is a painfully loud buzz as if I have several thousand angry bees zooming around my brain. https://t.co/fX5rHWpeu0
— Gary Legum (@GaryLegum) February 16, 2022
No @TomCottonAR you were wrong again. You can spin and dance but once again you stepped on your crank like a buffoon. Do you take a rake to work that you can step on everyday to smack yourself in the face with...because damn...you manage to make a fool of yourself almost daily. https://t.co/h8MQiGTGZ7
— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) February 16, 2022
Haven't seen backpedaling like this since I took the kids to the circus. https://t.co/kA4PJjdh8L
— Chad, of the Incel QAnon Chads (@DssdentAggrssor) February 16, 2022
Nice self-own here by GOP Sen. Cotton https://t.co/Y85UZ24H7D
— Kerry Eleveld (@kerryeleveld) February 16, 2022
durbin sounding like a comedian on def comedy jam on a "can you believe this guy" riff https://t.co/vT81sgRm6K
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 16, 2022
The First Step Act, which created a new assessment program to grant earlier release for inmates deemed unlikely to commit future crimes by prison officials, passed by an 87-12 vote.
Cotton went on to acknowledge that the First Step Act wasn’t just backed by Democrats — and used the opportunity to attack members of his own party.
“Yes, it’s true that President Trump signed the First Step Act,” Cotton admitted. “It was the worst mistake of the Trump administration. Yes, it’s true that a number of Republican senators voted for it ― they were wrong.”
You can see the whole segment below.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.