How MAGA Republicans aim to shove American politics further to the right: report
With the 2022 midterm elections fast approaching, Republican candidates backed by former President Donald Trump have made tremendous headway with their regurgitation of misinformation about the previous presidential election.
Although these candidates have become very popular among Trump supporters, they presumably pose a threat to their mainstream Republican opponents. Now, an analysis is offering a hypothetical view of how the country could be shifted further to the right if Trump-backed candidates manage to dominate the 2022 midterms.
According to The New York Times' Blake Hounshell, Republicans' far-right ideologies could further impact the following areas: abortion, climate control, education, and same-sex marriage.
As one of the most controversial areas of legislation in the United States' current political climate, abortion laws have spawned some of the most heated debates of the year.
"Nowhere is the starkness of the these candidates’ positions more evident than on abortion, which has become a much more urgent litmus test on the right since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade," Hounshell wrote.
Many of the far-right Republican candidates backed by Trump have made their support of anti-abortion laws quite evident. Hounshell noted that Kari Lake, Blake Masters, Herschel Walker, Doug Mastriano, and others have been quite vocal with their opinions.
"In Georgia," Hounshell wrote, "Herschel Walker, the party’s nominee for Senate, has told reporters, 'There’s not a national ban on abortion right now, and I think that’s a problem.' Doug Mastriano, who is running for governor of Pennsylvania, introduced a fetal heartbeat bill as a state senator. Again, the bill contained no exceptions for incest or rape."
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Another area of concern is climate control. "Skepticism of the human impact on the planet’s climate abounds, despite mounting scientific evidence that severe flooding, rising global temperatures, droughts, and volatile weather patterns have already arrived," he wrote.
Walker has also shared his opinion of climate control; an opinion that appears to resonate among far-right Republican lawmakers and candidates. “Since we don’t control the air, our good air decides to float over to China’s bad air,” Walker said. “So, when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move. So, it moves over to our good air space. Then, now, we got to clean that backup.”
Hounshell also highlighted Sen. Ron Johnson's (R-Wisc.) stance. "No Republican, however, has expressed his disdain for established climate science more succinctly than Senator Ron Johnson, who is seeking re-election in Wisconsin," Hounshell noted.
“'I don’t know about you guys,' Johnson said during a Republican luncheon back in June 2021. "Citing a British climate denier, he continued: 'But I think climate change is, as Lord Monckton said,' and he mouthed a barnyard epithet."
In regard to education, Hounshell wrote, "Across the board, the Trump-aligned candidates support redirecting tax dollars toward vouchers, private religious schools or other forms of 'school choice,' as do some Democrats. But where many of them go further is in calling for the elimination of the federal Education Department altogether."
And last but not least, Republican candidates have expressed deep disdain for laws protecting same-sex marriages.
"Several other Republican candidates for Senate, including Adam Laxalt in Nevada, Ted Budd in North Carolina, and Bolduc and Kevin Smith in New Hampshire, have expressed their opposition to same-sex marriage in more muted terms," he wrote.
Same-sex marriage is another topic Johnson has verbally expressed disapproval of. "One of the more surprising positions is that of Johnson, who has indicated that he plans to vote for a Democratic bill codifying the Obergefell decision when it comes before the Senate next month — a move that might have something to do with the fact that a solid majority of Wisconsinites want same-sex marriage to be legal," he wrote.
“The Respect for Marriage Act is another example of Democrats creating a state of fear over an issue in order to further divide Americans for their political benefit,” Johnson told reporters last month. “Even though I feel the Respect for Marriage Act is unnecessary, should it come before the Senate, I see no reason to oppose it.”
