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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

Disgraced Trump National Security Advisor Turned QAnon Hero Endorses GOP Candidate Who Defended Alleged Pedophile

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Michael Flynn—a folk hero among QAnon conspiracy theorists who believe a deep state cabal is operating a supposed child sex-trafficking ring—has endorsed a U.S. Senate candidate who years ago publicly accused his sister of lying about molestation by their father even though he had written private letters stating that he believed the abuse had happened. Mike Durant, a leading Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Alabama, spotlighted Flynn’s endorsement of him this Wednesday.

The contradictions between Durant’s public and private statements about his father’s alleged abuse of his sister were reported by the Associated Press in 1994 and highlighted by the Alabama Political Reporter this January—a month before Flynn’s endorsement.

Flynn, a short-lived national security adviser to former President Donald Trump, became a folk hero to activists who promote QAnon conspiracy theories that regularly and baselessly accuse high-ranking Democrats, business leaders, and Hollywood elites of child sex-trafficking and pedophilia. In 2020, adherents of the far-right conspiracy adopted the hashtag #SavetheChildren, claiming to care about saving children from sex trafficking, but anti-trafficking organizations have said that these baseless accusations of pedophilia did more harm than good.

In his February endorsement of Durant, Flynn called Durant “a battle tested patriot who puts political correctness aside and country above all else.”

But Durant would appear to be a candidate at odds, at least theoretically, with the QAnon conspiracy theory Flynn has supported. In 1994, Durant said during a TV interview that his sister was trying to “grab headlines” for suing their father for $5 million and accusing him of molesting her from the ages of 2 to 19. During that same interview, he said that his father “isn’t the monster” his sister, Mary Durant, made him out to be. That year, the Associated Press reported that Durant’s attacks on his sister represented an about-face from letters he sent to her in 1991 in which he told her that he believed her and that their father had admitted to abusing her.

“He lowered his head, began to cry and said it was all true,” Mike Durant wrote in one letter provided to the AP by his sister. In another, he wrote, “It all happened. If I could change it I would do anything to make it so.”

In a statement to the Alabama Political Reporter, Durant’s sister, now Mary Ryan, said Durant never made an attempt to make amends after attacking her publicly.

“Everything you’ve said (from the AP stories) is all true,” Mary Ryan told the Alabama Political Reporter. “No one from my family has ever apologized to me for anything.”

The Alabama Political Reporter reported on the contradictions between Durant’s public and private statements this January, a month before Flynn’s endorsement.

Flynn’s endorsement seems at odds with QAnon, but it could be that Flynn doesn’t actually believe the conspiracy theory and has been courting its followers for his own purposes. Lin Wood, another QAnon conspiracy theorist, released a recorded phone call with Flynn this past November in which it appears Flynn calls QAnon “total nonsense.” That doesn’t appear to have cost Flynn many of his QAnon followers, but it did briefly pit pro-Flynn and anti-Flynn factions inside QAnon against each other on right-wing social media.

Along with Durant, Flynn has endorsed Jackson Lahmeyer who is running for U.S. Senate in Oklahoma. Lahmeyer, who also courted QAnon adherents, discovered the downside of the conspiracy theory when he became the target of their wrath after he posted a photo of his daughter wearing red shoes and they proceeded to baselessly accuse him of pedophilia.

 

This article was originally published by Right Wing Watch and is republished here by permission.
Image via Shutterstock

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

‘Taking Guns Away Is Not the Answer’: Scalise Encourages Prayer After Nashville School Mass Shooting

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March 28, 2023

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The official line from House Republicans on Monday’s mass shooting at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville is to encourage prayer and making schools “safer,” but “taking guns away is not the answer.”

GOP Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the second-most powerful Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, on Tuesday encouraged prayer, waiting for more facts, and looking into mental health option, despite his record of voting against them. Six people, including three nine-year olds and three adults, were shot to death after a shooter shot through the doors of Covenant Presbyterian Elementary School.

“The first thing in any kind of tragedy I do is I pray,” Scalise told a reporter Tuesday when asked if there’s anything Congress can do to reduce gun violence and deaths. “I pray for the victims. I pray for their families.”

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) also encouraged prayer over action. “We’re not gonna fix it,” he declared point-blank, while calling for a Christian “revival.”

READ MORE: Tennessee Governor Slammed After ‘Praying’ for Nashville School Community Without Mentioning Mass Shooting

Scalise was shot in 2017 in a rare act of left-wing gun violence by a man angry at then-President Donald Trump. He and House Republicans have repeatedly used that attack to target Democrats and their policies.

“I really get angry when I see people trying to politicize it for their own personal agenda,” Scalise continued, referring to shootings, “especially when we don’t even know the facts. There are facts coming out.”

“It looks like the shooter originally went to another school that had real stronger, much stronger security and ultimately went to this school,” Scalise said, which is false. According to a CNN report, the shooter had previously “scouted” a second location but had a detailed plan and maps of The Covenant School.

“Let’s get the facts,” Scalise insisted, suggesting no action should be taken before any investigations into this shooting are complete.

The Washington Post in a continually-updated report notes, “There were more school shootings in 2022 — 46 — than in any year since at least 1999.”

It adds, “There have been 376 school shootings” since Columbine, in 1999, and, “More than 348,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since Columbine.”

But Scalise urged Americans to “work to see if there’s something that we can do to help secure schools.”

READ MORE: New WSJ Poll Is Devastating for DeSantis and His ‘Anti-Woke’ Policies

And he insisted reducing the number of guns in America, currently believed to be over 400 million – more than the total population of the country – is “not the answer.”

“We’ve talked about things that we can do, and it just seems like on the other side, all they want to do is take guns away from law abiding citizens, before they even know the facts. The first thing they talk about is taking guns away from law abiding citizens. And that’s not the answer, by the way. So why don’t we number one, keep those families in our prayers and see if there were things that were missed. Along the way, we’ve talked about the need to improve mental health in this country, and that’s been a driver of a lot of these shootings as well.”

But just last September, Scalise, along with all but one House Republican, voted against a bill that would “increase access to mental and behavioral health care.”

He also skipped a vote one week earlier on the Mental Health Justice Act of 2022.

Watch Scalise’s remarks in this clip, below or at this link.

 

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

‘Pits Parents Against Parents’: House Republicans Pass Anti-LGBTQ Florida-Style K-12 ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’

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March 24, 2023

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The Republican-majority U.S. House of Representatives Friday morning passed HR 5, the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” legislation similar to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ laws that have led to book bans and targeting of LGBTQ children.

The bill passed 213-208, with 14 Members not voting. All yes votes were from Republicans only. Five Republicans joined Democrats to vote no.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu of California warned the legislation “pits parents against parents.”

“The extreme MAGA H.R. 5 bill will let other parents dictate what books your child gets to read. It’ll make it easier for other parents to know if your child has an eating disorder, or is experiencing a mental health crisis,” Lieu warned.

READ MORE: Watch: GOP Lawmaker Orders Grieving Parkland Parents Removed From ‘ATF Overreach’ Hearing

U.S> Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) warned, “H.R. 5 would codify Republican book bans all over the country. Stories of Holocaust survivors, enslaved Americans, and over 1,600 other stories have already been pulled from shelves.”

U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) said HR5 is “a vehicle for hate and political nonsense.”

Congressman Greg Murphy, Republican of North Carolina, in a recorded statement falsely claimed the bill was needed because “Children are being taught to hate our country,” and “parents are labeled as domestic terrorists.”

In his speech before the bill passed, Speaker Kevin McCarthy declared, “We believe parents should know what your children is [sic] learning.”

CNN reports the bill would also “require elementary and middle schools that receive federal funding to obtain parental consent before ‘changing a minor child’s gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form; or allowing a child to change the child’s sex-based accommodations, including locker rooms or bathrooms.'”

Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the legislation “Orwellian to the core,” and promised it “will not see the light of day.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

Far Right Christian Nationalist Brags His ‘Biblical Worldview’ Group Is Behind Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ Anti-Trans Law

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4 days ago

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March 24, 2023

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Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed legislation Tuesday prohibiting transgender people from using public school facilities that match their gender identity. Later that same day, Jason Rapert, a former Arkansas state senator and founder of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, posted a video crediting his organization for the legislation.

Rapert, a longtime religious-right activist and ardent Christian nationalist, bragged that this piece of legislation was first proposed by Arkansas school board member David Naylor during an annual NACL meeting, endorsed by the organization, and finally brought to the Arkansas state legislature by state Rep. Mary Bentley, who serves on the board of the NACL.

“The NACL has seven working committees,” Rapert said. “Those committees actually debate and discuss every major policy issue in this country, all from a biblical worldview.”

“We make model laws,” he continued. “Do you know that just recently Rep. Mary Bentley of Arkansas passed a model law that the NACL adopted at their last meeting in the state of Texas?”

“Rep. Mary Bentley, [who] is our chair of the National Legislative Council, she went to the Arkansas legislature, took that concept that came from Dr. David Naylor that was then adopted by the full body of the NACL, and guess what? It’s already been placed into law in the state of Arkansas,” Rapert crowed. “That’s the difference the NACL can make in your community.”

“This is what the NACL does every day all across this country,” Rapert bellowed later in the video. “We are fighting for the lives of little babies. We are fighting against the people that are putting the queer books into your school libraries and trying to groom these children into homosexuality. We’re standing up. We’re pursuing school board policies to save the nation. We are standing up and have our members running bills in the halls of the state legislatures to stand up against this woke ideology, to push back against the things of the devil in our country.”

In December, Rapert declared that right-wing Christians must rise up and “take authority” over everything from their local school boards to the federal government. The National Association for Christian Lawmakers seeks do just that, advancing legislation that fits their narrow conservative biblical worldview in statehouses throughout the country. The group’s advisory board includes politicians like Mike Huckabee and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as well as influential religious-right activists like Tony Perkins of Family Research Council and Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel.

This article was originally published by Right Wing Watch and is republished here by permission.

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