America 1982-Chapter 537 - 106: One VS Three_4

It’s all about catching her off guard, making her pause for three whole seconds!

Just then, Gerald Richman suddenly spoke out to Jeff, drawing everyone’s attention and allowing Rosario a moment to breathe, "Mr. Raven, from addressing the questions to free discussion, you’ve been constantly venting your anger. You try to incite everyone to join you in hostility against the people of color in this district. As a white man, you..."

"I don’t harbor hostility toward anyone, including Cuban-American citizens. I only oppose foreigners. I’m a veteran, and my career has taught me to always protect this country, to beat back those foreigners who cause trouble for our nation until they roll back to their own homes! I’ll repeat it once again, I don’t discriminate against Cuban-Americans! Moreover, Cuban-Americans don’t represent Cubans, because when Cuban-American citizens obtained their U.S. status, they pledged allegiance to the flag. I believe these Americans would be willing to stand with me, an American, to drive out those Cuban illegal immigrants unless they break their oath of citizenship! If they do, the United States Government could then consider revoking their nationality, allowing them to openly stand with foreigners. At that time, I would also harbor hostility towards them." Jeff cut off the other’s difficulty directly, and without giving the other party another chance to cause trouble, he turned his face aside to look at the other party, with a resolved expression that completely disregarded the challenges posed by everyone:

"Mr. Richman, you’re a Haitian, you..."

"I am an American. I love America," Richman interrupted immediately, adding quickly, "I was just born in Haiti."

"I think your love isn’t strong enough, because you’ve always focused on helping illegal immigrants obtain refugee status as quickly as possible. I’ve learned that over the past decade, you’ve earnestly helped more than a thousand Cuban illegal immigrants obtain refugee residency. Quite charitable of you. However, in the same decade of your legal career, you have turned away more than thirty penniless Black Americans who sought your legal aid. May I ask, is this how you express your love for this country? Is this how you treat people of color equally?"

Richman didn’t even know how many times over the past decade he had rejected broke ’black ghosts’ who wanted his help in court cases—it was such a common occurrence. A lawyer is not a volunteer, and he wasn’t going to waste his time without pay, not even for Black compatriots of the same skin color or even relatives of the same blood, unless he wanted to open a floodgate for countless ’black ghosts’ swarming like flies. It was an insignificant matter that every lawyer has encountered.

But the cruelest point of Jeff Raven’s words was that he portrayed Richman’s decade-long business of charging fees to help over a thousand Cuban illegal immigrants get refugee status as charitable action and then linked it to his refusal to help more than thirty Black paupers!

For the Black audience watching on TV, it sounded like Gerald Richman had betrayed his own people: on the one hand, he called for Black people to vote for him, while on the other, he was unwilling to lend a hand to the needy among them, preferring instead to help Cuban illegal immigrants who were taking jobs away from the Black community.

Richman didn’t even know how to rebut, and just when things were about to go quiet, thankfully Joanna spoke up at this moment, taking issue with Jeff as well, "Mr. Raven, the question you just asked Mr. Richman..."

These three were all politicians who had just been ranked first, second, and third in a mock vote—there were no fools among them. Their mutual help tonight wasn’t based on closeness but rather on the understanding that they had to take down Jeff Raven. The plumber was too dangerous; until now, he had firmly held the microphone, capturing the audience’s sight and hearing. It didn’t matter who among them won in the end, for although they were competitive, they each knew the others’ price and could trade even in defeat.

Moreover, they had to work together to suppress Jeff. Allowing him to further attack Cubans unchecked in the name of nativism would only make the Democratic Party lose more Cuban-American voter support and push them towards the Republican Party. They had to make it clear to Cuban-American viewers that Jeff Raven only represented himself, while the three of them actually represented the Democratic Party’s stance.

As soon as Joanna Pepper had finished speaking, Jeff had already regained his turn to speak. His reaction speed made Joanna’s heart sink. Just how many drafts had his campaign team prepared to provide him with firepower in this primary election?

Could he really dominate the microphone by himself, leaving the other six candidates speechless and unable to respond?

"Ms. Pepper! Have you thought about how to answer the question Ms. Rosario Kennedy asked earlier? If you’ve come up with something, it just so happens I’ve also come up with another question waiting for you. Mr. Claude Pepper became a senator in Congress in 1936, only to be defeated in 1950, then started all over again, competing for a seat in the House of Representatives. Many political careers climb steadily—why did Mr. Pepper’s career go whoosh down?" Jeff imitated an airplane with his palm, making a downward gliding motion.

Seeing that Joanna Pepper was about to reply, Jeff preempted her, "It’s because he once went to the Soviet Union to meet with Stalin, and after returning, he seriously announced in Congress that Stalin was a person the United States could completely trust, that the Soviet Union was a symbol of human progress, and that the Soviet Union and the United States could coexist peacefully. What happened? Stalin and the Soviet Union taught him a lesson, making him the laughingstock of Congress. The American people knew that guy had been played by Stalin! That’s why he lost the election; people couldn’t accept someone who’d been bamboozled by the Soviet Union to continue as a senator."

"Then why was he able to serve as a congressman for so long? You can’t steal my microphone, give it up, Ms. Joanna Peber. Let me tell you the answer. From Day One of his competition for Congress, he focused on one thing: opposing the Soviet Union, and everything related to it, including Cuba, which was supported by the Soviet Union."

"So, you’d better just admit it. You oppose the Soviet Union, Cuba, and those Cuban illegal immigrants. Listen to your uncle’s advice, do the right thing, because that’s the real reason he held onto his congressional seat for twenty-five years."