DNC CEO Seema Nanda and DNC Vice Chair and Lousiana Democratic Party Chair Karen Carter Peterson released the following statement in response to comments by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos comparing abortion to slavery:

“If there were ever an indication of the sorry state of Republican leadership, this is it: Trump’s secretary of education doesn’t see a difference between the original sin of slavery and Americans exercising their constitutional reproductive rights. What an insult to the generations of Americans who still live with the scars of slavery and Jim Crow. What an insult to those who have fought valiantly to make abortion safe and legal in all 50 states. The secretary of education remains woefully uneducated on the history of our country. Her ignorance would be laughable if it weren’t so disturbing. As with so many issues she’s commented on before, Secretary Devos has once again failed a simple test of competence and character. November 3 can’t come soon enough.”