Rep. Mary Miller and incumbent Republican Rep. Rodney Davis in a primary run-off for Illinois’ 15th Congressional District. Davis however, made the mistake of supporting an independent Jan. 6 commission to investigate the events surrounding the attempted coup. This means that disgraced former President Donald Trump, apparently guilty of trying to overthrow our country’s democracy to retain his powerful position, has thrown his support behind Miller. The polling, as of now, seems to be something of a coin-toss.
Both candidates have been going after one another with ads hitting well below the belt on issues such as military strength, immigration, and pedophilia. Huh? How? Did you know that if you left 1,000 rats in a steel room with no food they would very quickly begin to eat one another? That is basically what a GOP primary is like. On Saturday, Trump came to Illinois looking rather … ruddy.
“President Trump, I want to thank you for the historic victory for white life in the Supreme Court yesterday.” She didn’t say that aloud, did she?
She did.
Ms. Miller’s spokesman, Isaiah Wartman, told NBC News that Miller misspoke and meant to say “right to life,” not “white life,” during her comments. His proof is that you “clearly see she is reading off a piece of paper,” which I guess is meant to show that no one in their right-wing mind would write down “white life” for a speech thanking one of the most openly racist former presidents since Woodrow Wilson.
Miller also tweeted out this attempt at subterfuge:
Of course, many people made sure to point out that Rep. Mary Miller made a similarly suspect statement during a speech she gave on Jan. 6, 2021—a date that might ring a bell for some—where she decided the best way to make her point was to name-check and then agree with Adolf Hitler. Yes, that Adolf Hitler.
In Miller’s defense, she’s basically a racist like the rest of the people representing her political party. There isn’t much new here other than she’s saying the once quiet part out loud. The incumbent Republican, Rodney Davis, is no picnic either. But, Davis did choose to certify the 2020 election, which means by today’s standards he’s among the handful of Republican operatives still seeming to support the concept of democracy.
Probably more telling is where we are today compared to where we were less than a decade ago. Back in 2013, a central Illinois Republican Party chairman resigned after he attacked a Black, female Republican candidate in a racist screed. Who was she challenging? Rep. Rodney Davis. Former Montgomery County Chair Jim Allen seems to have finally won the day, as racist Mary Miller has now ascended high enough, and the national conversation has become toxic enough, that a little bit of the old classic racism is back in vogue for the GOP.
The only difference, for now, is that they still enjoy claiming they are not racist. That’ll fade.
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