On Sunday, noted left-wing Harvard Constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe ventured off into the fever swamps on the issue of abortion, positing what he thought was a solid reason why white supremacists “opposed” it:

White Supremacists oppose abortion because they fear it’ll reduce the number of white infants and thus contribute to what they fear as non-white “replacement.” Never underestimate the way these issues and agendas are linked. This turns “intersectionality” on its head.

— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) August 11, 2019

It’s both sad and yet unsurprising that someone with such a distinguished educational pedigree like Tribe could be so wildly off the mark. Several conservatives were quick to point this out to the professor:

This manages to stand on its head both the data (abortion reduces the black population, in particular, proportionately more than the white population) & the arguments (white nationalists tend to favor abortion & population control for precisely these reasons). https://t.co/CkgPw7CsuY

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) August 11, 2019

Actually, white supremacists and the alt-right are notoriously pro-abortion when it comes to minorities. But of course it’s much more convenient to ignore the eugenic leanings of early abortion-rights advocates and pretend the pro-life movement is linked to white supremacy. https://t.co/xUgZ7ksLWi

— Alexandra DeSanctis (@xan_desanctis) August 11, 2019

The most notable conservative to school Tribe was his former student – Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who posted a series of tweets setting the record straight:

1/2 My old con law prof, sadly, being deeply deceptive. Abortion targets in particular minority women. More than 1/2 of African-American babies, tragically, are aborted. Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, was a vehement advocate of eugenics. https://t.co/Lx0T7XBLUy https://t.co/PjFR9loFnV

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 11, 2019

2/2 Here’s one particularly nasty quote from Margaret Sanger (1939): “We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members." https://t.co/LV0YgDqxyb

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 11, 2019

Yes, PLEASE read full context. In 1926, Sanger spoke at a KKK rally in NJ. Her publications include: "Some Moral Aspects of Eugenics" (Jun 1920); "The Purpose of Eugenics" (Dec 1924); "Birth Control & Positive Eugenics" (July 1925) & "Birth Control: The True Eugenics" (Aug 1928). https://t.co/oTDdfH1c96

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 11, 2019

A slight correction. Although some cities (eg, NYC) see over 50% abortion rates (in 2012-16 black mothers terminated 136,426 pregnancies & gave birth to 118,127 babies), nationally the total is just over 40%—still tragically high.https://t.co/EgZKw25nrmhttps://t.co/N2YpQw0mte https://t.co/LV0YgDqxyb

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 11, 2019

For what it’s worth, Tribe tried to, ahem, clarify his Sunday tweet by posting another one on the same issue Monday morning:

Some have misread this to say that all those who oppose abortion are White Supremacists! Learn to read, folks! I neither said nor implied nor believe any such thing. Some X are Y doesn’t translate to all Y are X. Duh. 🤓 https://t.co/HIsY9TyDxF

— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) August 12, 2019

Tribe can try to clarify all he wants to, but the insinuation in his original tweet was clear. Liberals including Tribe have spent the entirety of Trump’s presidency trying to paint all Trump supporters as racists and white supremacists, and his initial abortion tweet was one example of many.

What he didn’t realize he was doing, as Cruz and others have astutely pointed out, is accidentally demonstrating that actual white supremacists and the pro-abortion left have a lot in common.

Oops.

UPDATE: Cruz responds to a critic of his remarks about Sanger and abortion, and zings Va. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) in the process:

This particular photo is an Internet fabrication. What is TRUE is that in 1926 Sanger addressed the Women’s Auxiliary of the KKK in Silver Lake, NJ (as she admits in her autobiography). Also, I’m pretty sure that guy in the front row is the guy from Ralph Northam’s yearbook…. https://t.co/lugY9kQim5

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 12, 2019

Ouch!

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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –