Pelosi equates Russian invasion of Ukraine to GOP 'assaults on our democracy in our own country'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and California Rep. Barbara Lee compared Russia's invasion of Ukraine to an "assault" on democracy in the U.S. 

"We talked about the fact that the invasion, the assault on Ukraine, was an assault on democracy. Barbara [Lee] took the time to talk about assaults on our democracy in our own country," Pelosi said during a grassroots volunteer event with Democratic activists on Thursday evening.

"Putin was engaged in trying to disrupt our own elections, but separate and apart from that, what's going on in our country with the vote and the role that you're playing to the fight for passage in the Senate, and the rest, on voting rights in our country?" Pelosi asked Lee.

"Connecting what's taking place abroad to what's taking place in our own country, and what we see taking place in Ukraine now, is a direct assault on democracy," Lee told Pelosi. "This is Putin wanting an autocratic regime to re-emerge and, of course, democracy is going to prevail but it's a fight.

"The fight for democracy is taking place throughout the world. It's not only in Ukraine but it's in our own country. And we've seen this through the campaigns of misinformation and disinformation. We see this happening in Ukraine. The fact that now we see those who are trying to take away the voting rights of people of color, of African Americans, of young people, of seniors, of the disabled; trying to neutralize or take away the voices of people that want to make this country better. And we see how they move and how they operate." 

Lee, chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, specifically mentioned former President Donald Trump in connecting the situation in Ukraine to what's happening in the U.S.

"And we see the rise of Donald Trump and his comments about Putin and his relationship with Putin, and his praise for Putin," she said. "When you look at Ukraine, we have to look within, and we have to see that this is a global movement to dismantle democracy, but democracy is going to prevail. It's a fight and we have to really re-emphasize that it's a fight and get reinvigorated because of these elections coming up."

Lee said voting rights and climate change are among the key issues are on the ballot in November 2022.

During the grassroots event, Lee claimed that the GOP is trying to bring back Jim Crow.

"I think everyone understands that we can't go back to the days of enslavement and to the days of Jim Crow, which again, what's taken place in America, as you all know, with the Republicans, because that's what they're trying to do," she said.