The SAVE Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to cast a ballot in federal elections, was denounced by Schumer on Monday as “nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0” during remarks on the Senate floor. According to the Daily Caller, Smith and Maher agreed on Smith’s Wednesday episode of “Straight Shooter with Stephen A.” that such rhetoric is likely to alienate voters and ultimately strengthen President Donald Trump’s hand.
“Don’t engage in that kind of hyperbole. Because we’re living in the year 2026. And when you start bringing up Jim Crow 2.0, you’re trying to hearken back to a time that most people recognize — no, we’re not living in those times right now,” Smith said, pushing back on Schumer’s comparison. “Of course we’ve got our troubles … Don’t do that because that’s playing right into Trump’s hands. Was I right in saying that?”
February 06, 2026
Maher fully endorsed Smith’s assessment, arguing that Democrats reflexively racialize policy debates to their own detriment. “Yes … not everything is primarily a racial issue. It has racial overtones as does everything in this country. But yes, you’re right it’s foolish to make it about that. And it’s also foolish because [former President Joe] Biden used that exact phrase about voting in Georgia. And then they did polling after that next election came up. And even the black folks said, ‘We had no problem voting.’ So, like you say, don’t engage in the kind of hyperbole that’s just going to bite you in the ass.”
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Their criticism recalls the 2021 Georgia election law that tightened absentee ballot rules and required a photo ID, driver’s license or state ID number for mail voting. Democrats and corporate allies denounced that law as voter suppression, yet Georgia went on to post record turnout in subsequent elections, undermining the apocalyptic claims.
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Major League Baseball joined the progressive pile-on by yanking its All-Star Game from Atlanta and moving it to Denver, Colorado, over the Georgia statute. That decision punished a largely minority city economically while doing nothing to change the basic reality that election security measures can coexist with robust participation.
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Data now show that voter ID requirements enjoy broad, multiracial backing despite the left’s narrative that such laws are inherently discriminatory. CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten noted on “CNN News Central” that support for photo identification at the polls is overwhelming across racial lines.
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“What’s the racial breakdown on this? Because I think a lot of people make the argument that people of color, non-white Americans have a harder time procuring a photo ID to vote,” Enten said, before laying out the numbers. “But even here, take a look here, favor photo ID to vote: 85% of white people favor it, 82% of Latino, 76% of black Americans favor it.”
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“So the bottom line is this: voter ID is not controversial in this country. A photo ID to vote is not controversial in this country,” he continued. “It is not controversial by party, and it is not controversial by race.”
Biden himself escalated the rhetoric in 2021, claiming Republican election integrity efforts “make Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle,” a line that was widely mocked as historically illiterate and politically cynical.
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While the SAVE Act cleared the House in April and simply asks that only citizens vote in federal contests, it remains stalled in the Democrat-controlled Senate, where leaders like Schumer appear more interested in invoking “Jim Crow 2.0” than in addressing the broad, bipartisan public support for basic voter verification.
