Welcome to what is the 1073rd original profile here at “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing Texas State Senator Bob Hall, who was first elected to District 2 of that body since first being elected in the 2014 elections. From the jump, it was clear he had guano on the brain, warning during his initial campaign for office warning how Barack Obama wanted public schools to teach a “communist indoctrinaton”, raving about the the threat of the Agenda 21 conspiracy theory, touting the ability of states to nullify federal law (which they can’t do) calling Texas State Senator Wendy Davis a “baby killer”, and insisting his Democratic opponent “Satan must have a stranglehold on him” and that his opponent’s support of end-of-life rights “would have codified—that is, made it law in Texas—medical death panels just like you’ll find in Obamacare”. Y’know, just boiler plate policy talk.
Bob Hall has not changed since arriving in office. In April of 2016, he actually warned during a special session of the legislature of the threat of EMP lasers being fired from space installations down onto planet Earth and crippling the global electrical grid, warning that one missile would lead to “America being snuffed out”. And we’ll point out that in 2021, the Texas power grid failed due to a friggin’ winter storm, meanwhile this idiot and Gov. Greg Abbott were worried about non-existent space weapons destroying it.
Now, it’s not just love for conspiracy theories and partisan rhetoric that concern us about Hall, either. It’s his passionate defense of self-admitting white nationalists. One of his good buddies is Ray Myers, who on social media, has openly identified as a white nationalist, and once commented about “a rope and a tree” as a solution to an African American woman supervising elections in Broward County, Florida. In 2019, Hall was in Washington D.C., staying at the Trump Hotel (always a welcome place for white nationalists) and he posted a photograph of himself spending time with Myers. When the Texas Observer asked Hall about Myers’ awful comments, he didn’t play dumb and say he hadn’t seen or heard them… he defended Myers and claimed he was the victim of “political correctness”:
“Those who sit on a self-appointed seat of judgment where they view others through the faulty prism of perverted extreme political correctness, rather than the clear glass of honesty, will always see the ugly they seek to see rather than the truth.”
When reporters followed up to ask Hall about his feelings that Myers had identified himself as a white nationalist, he again, didn’t back down, saying, “According to the dictionary I use ‘nationalism’ is defined as ‘Devotion and loyalty to one’s own country’ and ‘white’ is a socially accepted term for Caucasian. It is clear that his statement was made based on these definitions.”
Not surprisingly, Hall has also appeared alongside Islamphobic conspiracy theorists like Frank Gaffney, and John Guandolo, who actively treat Islam as a threat to American national security.
Bob Hall is not a man in possession of any kind of critical thinking skills. Perhaps no greater example came than in April of 2019 during debate on sex education in public schools, wherein Hall started in on a conspiracy theory that abortion clinics want “initial sex education courses for the purpose of increasing their supply line of young women for abortions”. You see, he claims it somehow leads to MORE teen pregnancies (it absolutely doesn’t, and does the opposite for informing young people about the effectiveness of contraception), and that by getting kids educated about sex, they have more, more of them get pregnant, and it stirs up business for abortion clinics. After his witness rebutted his claim, he insinuated that she had “dodged his question”, when he never ASKED one.
Bob Hall’s voting record outside of all of that is completely reprehensible, where he hasn’t just voted for, but sponsored some of the worst bills that have come forth in the Texas legislature. A quick sampling:
- April 28th, 2015: Bob Hall co-sponsors SB 2065, which would allow religious organizations to decline marriage services, specifically those of same sex couples, in defiance of the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
- January 24th, 2017: Hall co-sponsors SB 6, a bill which would require individuals to use public bathrooms according to the gender on their birth certificate, kicking off a transphobic pattern of legislation he supports.
- March 30th, 2017: Bob Hall votes for SB 258, a bill which unnecessarily requires women getting abortions to bury or cremate the fetal remains.
- May 1st. 2019: Hall votes for SB 535, to permit guns to be carried inside of churches and places of worship, which was Texas Republicans’ stupid solution to trying to avoid another Southerland Springs shooting, even though it only makes it MORE likely to cause a shooting in a church.
- January 22nd, 2021: Bob Hall co-sponsors HB 1280, which would outlaw abortion in Texas if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
- March 5th, 2021: Hall sponsors a voter suppression bill, SB 1114, which would “cross-reference” voter rolls with the DMV’s records and kick anyone off the voter rolls whose information does not “match”.
- March 30th, 2021: Bob Hall sponsors SB 8, another anti-choice fetal heartbeat bill aimed at outlawing abortion at 6 weeks, before most mothers even know they’re pregnant.
- July 16th, 2021: Hall votes for SB 3, a bill to ban the teaching of “Critical Race Theory” in public schools, who are teaching no such thing, nor do they have any intention to.
- September 8th, 2021: Hall sponsors SB 20, to conduct a “forensic audit” of the 2020 election aimed at proving Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” about election fraud.
- September 20th, 2021: Bob Hall sponsors SB 3, a transphobic bill aimed at forcing schoolchildren to only be able to participate in activities of “their biological sex”.
- September 21st, 2021: Hall sponsors SB 36, which would place prohibitions on the use of state money to enforce federal vaccine or treatment mandates and on required COVID-19 vaccinations. Because why let the federal government save lives when you, as the state of Texas can funnel money away to keep ‘em dying?
We are only a few weeks away for the primary in Texas elections for 2022, and cringe at the thought that no Republican has bothered to challenge Bob Hall. It looks like the only hope of ousting this 76 year old crank is Democrat Prince Giadolor pulling a big upset in red territory. Cross your fingers that it happens.
One Year Ago, February 8th, 2021: Vance Boyd (TX)
Two Year Ago, February 8th, 2020: Jonathon Stickland (TX)… 2020 Update
Three Years Ago, February 8th, 2019: Jonathon Stickland (TX)… 2019 Update
Four Years Ago, February 8th, 2018: Jonathon Stickland (TX)… 2018 Update
Five Years Ago, February 8th, 2017: Katrina Pierson (TX)
Six Years Ago,February 8th, 2016: Jonathon Stickland (TX)… Original Profile
Seven Years Ago, February 8th, 2015: Leo Berman (TX)