During the second GOP presidential debate Wednesday night, Donald Trump, Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) said they would be open to putting civil rights activist Rosa Parks on the $10 bill. But the Republican candidates might be surprised to learn that Parks sat on the national board of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, one of the GOP’s biggest political enemies.
Cruz, ironically, is leading the Republican attack on Planned Parenthood, trying to pressure his colleagues in the Senate to threaten a government shutdown to end federal funding for the family planning provider. But the Texas conservative praised Parks in the debate Wednesday night, calling her “a principled pioneer that helped change this country, helped remedy racial injustice.” He said putting her on the $10 bill is “an honor that would be entirely appropriate,” though he’d prefer to have her picture on the $20 in lieu of Andrew Jackson's.
Parks’ role on Planned Parenthood’s national board is not the only bit of her history that might make Republicans uncomfortable. She was also influenced by the Communist movement, which laid the groundwork for the civil rights movement in Alabama. In her younger years, she attended Communist Party meetings with her husband, though she never joined.
But the GOP candidates seem to love her. Rubio called her "an everyday American that changed the course of history" and Trump said Parks would be the best choice for the currency -- after, of course, his own daughter. “Other than that, we’ll go with Rosa Parks,” the billionaire decided. “I like that.”
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