Dear fellow MoveOn member,
My friends, I don't need to tell you we are living in a time of increasingly virulent politics and violent political threats, perpetrated in and by the Republican Party.
Just minutes after the U.S. House formally censured Representative Paul Gosar yesterday for posting an animated video on his official congressional social media accounts in which he assassinates Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacks President Joe Biden, Gosar retweeted the violent video.1 Only two House Republicans joined Democrats to censure Gosar, who had defended his video by saying it "symbolizes the battle for the soul of America."2
The New York Times reports that at a conservative rally in western Idaho last month, a young man stepped up to a microphone to ask when he could start killing Democrats. "When do we get to use the guns?" he said as the audience applauded. "How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?" The local state representative, a Republican, later called it a "fair" question.3
Republicans who break party ranks and defy Trump have come to expect death threats—often fueled by their own colleagues who have denounced them as traitors. The 13 House Republicans who voted last week for President Biden's infrastructure bill are getting death threats—such as a caller who told Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois to slit his wrists and "rot in hell"—and party leaders are calling for them to be stripped of their committee assignments ... because they voted for a bill that invests in roads, bridges, and broadband in their communities.4,5
This is the modern Republican Party, and we cannot allow them back into power. Not this Republican Party. Ever.
Control of the House and Senate are up for grabs in the midterm elections next year, and every single indicator of who will win those elections—presidential approval, gerrymandering, the generic congressional ballot (which asks people if they'd choose a Republican or Democrat to represent them in Congress), special elections, retirements, and candidate recruitment—is pointing in the wrong direction.
Let's be clear: We have a path to win. It's turning out the 26 million people who did not vote in 2016 but voted for Biden in 2020. But it's an uphill battle, John, and we have to get serious right now to be able to make it happen.
And that's why I'm writing to you today. MoveOn is building a war chest to replicate the grassroots get-out-the-vote effort that was so successful in 2020.
Can you chip in $5 a month to MoveOn to help stop the Trump Republican Party from winning control of the House and Senate in 2022?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Unless those at the highest levels of government who foment or encourage violence—or those who remain conspicuously silent—are held accountable, no one in political life will be safe.
According to The New York Times, violent threats against lawmakers are on track to double this year.6
GOP Representative Fred Upton of Michigan has received multiple death threats in the days since he voted for President Biden's infrastructure bill. One caller left a voicemail saying, "You're a f---ing piece-of-s--- traitor. I hope you die." The man went on to say he hopes Upton's family and his entire staff die.7
This is today's Republican Party. We have to be clear-eyed about it, John.
Imagine what members of Congress like Marjorie Taylor Greene would do if Republicans had the majority and the power to subpoena witnesses. Or what senators like Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz would do if they were allowed to chair committee hearings.
We could see the racist lies and conspiracy theories currently confined to fringe corners of the internet thrust into the halls of Congress and given official legitimacy. The election fraud lies that sparked the January 6 white supremacist attack on the U.S. Capitol would be once again lifted up front and center at the highest levels of our government.
We must do everything we can to make sure these people are never allowed back in power.
Please, will you start a $5 monthly donation to help support MoveOn's campaign to stop Republicans from taking back control of Congress? Every sustaining donation helps.
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
I remain hopeful because of you and what we can make happen, if we come together starting right now.
Thanks for all you do.
–Robert Reich
Sources:
1. "Minutes After Being Censured, Gosar Retweets Offending Ocasio-Cortez Video," Newsweek, November 17, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159565?t=6&akid=310904%2E40999114%2ENTgUp4
2. "Republican Rep. Paul Gosar facing Wednesday censure vote after he posted violent video," USA Today, November 16, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159566?t=8&akid=310904%2E40999114%2ENTgUp4
3. "Menace Enters the Republican Mainstream," The New York Times, November 12, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159567?t=10&akid=310904%2E40999114%2ENTgUp4
4. "House Republicans Who Backed Infrastructure Bill Face Vicious Backlash," The New York Times, November 10, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159568?t=12&akid=310904%2E40999114%2ENTgUp4
5. "Mark Meadows says the 13 House Republicans who backed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill should 'absolutely' lose their committee assignments," Insider, November 10, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159569?t=14&akid=310904%2E40999114%2ENTgUp4
6. "Menace Enters the Republican Mainstream," The New York Times, November 12, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159567?t=16&akid=310904%2E40999114%2ENTgUp4
7. "GOP Rep. Fred Upton receives death threats after voting for bipartisan infrastructure deal," The Washington Post, November 10, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159570?t=18&akid=310904%2E40999114%2ENTgUp4
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