The claim that the United States is a republic rather than a democracy is used to justify limiting voting rights based on 1950s-era white supremacist ideologies.

“So, when people say that, they're really harking back to that 1950s white supremacy that says, you know, in a in a republic, not everybody gets to vote. Therefore, we don't have to agree with any of these newfangled policies for letting black Americans vote.”