Photo via FreedomForum
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I never imagined a scenario in which I would say that we need to be more like a straight white man, but here we are. Governor of California Gavin Newsom has recently been making headlines as he flips the script on President Trump and the Republicans. For months, Governor Newsom has been calling out President Trump on social media with all-caps posts, ranting about the state of America, posts written in a manner that mocks those of President Trump. Additionally, he has countered Republican Gerrymandering in Texas with his own Gerrymandering plan for California, which was recently voted on and approved by California as Proposition 50. With these seemingly below-the-belt attacks from Governor Newsom, a new conversation has started online and among politicians: Is Gavin Newsom being childish by stooping to Republicans’ level, or is he finally showing up with the tools to have a fair fight? Republicans have proven time and time again that they will push through whatever hypocritical agenda serves them best. Unless Democrats learn to respond with something other than the high road, nothing will change. While I absolutely adore Michelle Obama and her political motto, “when they go low, we go high,” it is no longer applicable in this political climate.
Recently, we have seen Republican hypocrisy on full display in the case of Congresswoman-elect Adalita Grijalva. Adalit Grijalva, congresswoman-elect in Arizona’s 7th district, has yet to be sworn into office over a month after her election. Republicans, including Majority Leader Mike Johnson, claim that Adalita Grijalva cannot be sworn in for various reasons, including the government shutdown. Republicans are leveraging Grijalva’s election not only to end the shutdown but, as is speculated by many, as a way to delay the release of the Epstein Files. While the shutdown may appear as a legitimate reason not to swear in a new Congress member, it is simply a hypocritical stance to give Republicans more power. Mike Johnson “has sworn in multiple representatives during his tenure less than 24 hours after they won a special election—even when the House of Representatives was not in session,” as is stated in the same article from the AZ Mirror. While Democrats continue to speak out against Mike Johnson and support Adalita Grijalva, they have yet to provide any tangible results, leaving them looking weak and incapable of influencing politics.
If Republicans are so easily able to prevent the swearing in of Adalita Grijalva, a blatant act of hypocrisy, and receive no backlash, punishment, or even accountability, then what’s even the point of our Democratic members of Congress? If our representatives don’t fight back at an equal—if not greater—level than their republican colleagues, then nothing will ever change. They need to take a page out of Governor Newsom’s book and be more aggressive and harsh in their social media strategy, create opposing proposals and narratives, and fight for the rights of those in Arizona’s 7th district who currently have no representation in the House. Unfortunately, this lack of confident action is only an example of a trend that has been ongoing for almost a decade, if not longer.
In February of 2016, at the end of Barack Obama’s second term, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia unexpectedly passed away, leaving President Obama with a vacancy on the court and the ability to make one of the most powerful appointments of any President’s career. However, as Obama prepared his nominee for the Supreme Court, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that “any appointment by the sitting president would be null and void.” McConnell claimed that “the American people should have a say in the court’s direction.” In his eyes, as Obama was nearing the end of his final year in office, he no longer represented the people. In an unprecedented action, this decision went through without any hearings or trials, and the Supreme Court was forced to convene later that year in October with only eight justices. Now, with this new precedent set by Republicans, one might have predicted that, in the future, if a president attempted to appoint a Supreme Court Justice within their final year of the presidency, they would be denied. This assumption, however, would be incorrect. In an act of hypocrisy, Republicans disregarded this decision from 2016 when, in 2020, President Donald Trump appointed Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, less than a month before the presidential election. With the tense events of President Obama’s 2016 appointment looming overhead, Republicans went on to confirm this nomination, placing Barrett on the Supreme Court. The public, politicians, and Democrats alike were enraged by such hypocrisy, but nothing changed, and unfortunately, this pattern has continued.
Recently, in Virginia, the Attorney General was up for election, but mere weeks before Election Day, the Democratic front-runner, Jay Jones, found himself in the hot seat. Someone close to Jones revealed texts from him containing tasteless and disgusting remarks about his former colleague, then-Virginia House Speaker, Todd Gilbert, making comments such as, “If those guys die before me, I will go to their funerals to p*** on their graves.” Several news outlets immediately picked up images of these messages, and Republicans quickly used them to their advantage, not only fighting against Jones but also Democratic Representative Abigail Spanberger, the then-candidate for Governor. Republicans ran many tasteless ads on social media and in the news, hoping to sway undecided and even democratic voters. The results of this smear campaign did not go as far as Republicans might have hoped. However, Jones won by a smaller margin than anticipated, winning by less than 200,000 votes. The comments made by Jones were atrocious, and he should be held accountable, but Republicans running smear campaigns based on the hateful language a candidate used is simply a pot-calling-the-kettle-black situation.
Earlier this year, Minnesota Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were brutally shot and killed in their own home. Following this assassination, many politicians spoke out against the heinous acts and condemned all types of political violence. However, while some were sending their condolences, Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah said, “This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way.” This promptly sparked backlash, and Senator Lee soon removed this post. Additionally, a few months later, when asked about Melissa Hortman, President Trump responded by saying, “I’m not familiar.” This came after he did not lower the White House Flag in honor of Melissa Hortman, claiming that, “Had the governor of Minnesota asked me to do that, I would have done that gladly.” Instead of jumping on these comments and using them as leverage against Republicans, as what had happened with the comments made by Jay Jones, Democrats remained silent. While some may believe that it is distasteful to use any issues surrounding the death of Melissa Hortman for political advantage, this is simply one example of Republicans being blatantly hateful and distasteful, and Democrats letting it go unchecked and not holding them accountable. Imagine what would have happened if, during this time, Democrats had employed the strategies that Governor Newsom is currently using—everything could be different. However, as we look to the future, not only is Newsom providing us with hope, but it also appears that Democrats may have finally caught on to the reality of the climate they are living in.
To create any progress in this exhausting and terrifying time, Democrats need to step up. While they are making strides in some ways, until they push back with the same energy and aggression that Republicans are bringing to the fight, they will never make actual change. Democrats can continue to win Congressional races, as happened with Adalita Grijalva. Still, if Republicans continue their hypocritical trajectory, Democrats will have to face off, backing them into a corner of submission. To achieve this, not only do Democrats need to bring more fire to the political arena, but they also need to dominate the media. Democrats need not only members of their party, but also anyone else who is unhappy with the current Trump administration, to get on their side. On the bright side, we are beginning to see steps in this direction, such as the recent Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) ad buy on Conservative news sources that features Marjorie Taylor Greene, a prominent Republican congresswoman, “bashing” the Republicans in Congress over their lack of a plan for providing affordable health insurance for the American people. Along with this ad, the DCCC has recently launched an ad attacking Republicans’ connection to the loss of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits that many across America are struggling with right now, appealing directly to the people and calling out Republicans.
Just recently, President Trump made a comment seemingly aligned with Democrats, stating, “I think if you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans.” While this is a hopeful message, the Republican party is losing favorability with every day that the government shutdown eeks by, but the blame will never fully be placed on them unless Democrats learn to pull up their big-kid pants and fight fire with fire.
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This article was edited by Brett Poggi.
John Virgil Aton 
Stan Refermat 
David Tomanelli