John, did you see this?

That’s two Missouri State Senators, including a Republican candidate for Missouri governor, using flamethrowers to torch a stack of boxes at a fundraising event last week.

Here’s what one of them told the Kansas City Star after the video went viral on social media:

“In the video, I am taking a flamethrower to cardboard boxes representing what I am going to do to the leftist policies and RINO corruption of the Jeff City swamp. But let’s be clear, you bring those woke pornographic books to Missouri schools to try to brainwash our kids, and I’ll burn those too -- on the front lawn of the governor’s mansion.”

Today’s Republican Party is the party of book burning, censorship, and hate. This rhetoric and violent imagery isn’t relegated to the fringes. It’s “mainstream” GOP candidates from the local to the federal level, carrying on the legacy of former white-supremacist-in-chief Donald Trump. And Cori Bush’s home state of Missouri is one of the hotbeds for their fascist book censorship.

Whether it’s in the nation’s Capitol or at home in Missouri, Cori will not back down from these threats to our schools, our communities, and our freedom. But that makes Cori a threat in the eyes of these hateful, bigoted Republicans who are trying to silence the truth about oppression. And they’re ready to do everything they can to shut Cori’s voice down in the halls of Congress.

We need you to have Cori’s back. Will you rush a donation of $5 or whatever you can afford and deliver the resources we need to push back and win now?

We probably don’t have to break it down for you, but when Republicans say they’re anti-“woke,” they’re really saying they’re anti-Black. When they call books in our schools “pornographic,” they mean it contains LGBTQ+ characters or themes.

But they don’t stop there.

A brand new report by PEN America tracked 6,000 instances of banned books since July 2021. This year saw 333 bans in Missouri alone, the third-most behind only Florida and Texas.

Overwhelmingly, these bans targeted books on race or racism or featured LGBTQ+ characters or characters of color. We cannot normalize or ignore this growing fascism. We need leaders like Cori who are willing to call it out and to instead push boldly for liberation.

Cori will not back down. She will never stop working to protect our right to read, to think, and to live our lives as our true selves -- no matter our gender, sexual orientation, race, class, or other marginalized identities. We all deserve to live safely and thrive as we are.

During fascist attacks on our communities, we must urgently send Cori Bush back to Congress as a bold leader in the push for justice and equity. Join with us and contribute $5 to deliver the resources we need to win now.

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In solidarity,

Team Cori