McCain primary opponent: Sotomayor opposition racially motivated

Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) primary opponent said Wednesday morning that the Arizona Republican’s decision to oppose Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court confirmation is racially motivated.

Chris Simcox, who is also a co-founder of the Minutemen anti-illegal immigration group, said that McCain and other senators who stand against Sotomayor’s confirmation are playing the “race card” out of “political expediency.”

“To base a decision on ethnicity or race and for those as we see lately, to play the race card, and to… I call them ‘racialists,’ basically they use it for political expediency,” Simcox said on MSNBC’s Morning Meeting.

“For [the Sotomayor vote] to be used as political fodder, in that sense, is I think part of why this system has become rather despicable,” he added.

Some have accused the Minutemen of invoking race in their opposition to illegal immigration.

Simcox said that he personally opposed Sotomayor’s confirmation when asked by Morning Meeting’s Dylan Ratigan. Simcox explained that he objected to her nomination from the start because she would legislate from the bench.

Simcox, who will face off against McCain in 2010, questioned McCain’s motives because he decided to vote against Sotomayor on Monday.

“Where was he earlier? He should have been speaking out about this,” said Simcox.