The GOP crime problem
Michael Whatley needs to let us know where he stands on the pardoning sex abusers, selling pardons, and covering up the Epstein files.
Republicans (or at least Republican Andrew Dunn) believe they’ve found the silver bullet to bring down Roy Cooper’s campaign. During COVID, the Cooper administration settled a lawsuit that released about 3,500 inmates from state prisons. Several of those prisoners had committed violent crimes, including murder.
Visions of Willie Horton danced in their heads. Initially, Republicans tried to connect DeCarlos Brown—the man who killed Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte light rail—to the list. But that was false. Not that facts matter much on social media these days; as we know, a lie becomes truth very quickly in today’s political world, even if it never makes it into an official ad.
That won’t deter Republicans for long. Expect to see ads claiming Cooper released 3,500 violent criminals who committed heinous crimes. However, the narrative won’t stick unless those convicts re-offended. That is what made the Willie Horton ad effective.
The episode gives Democrats an opening. Donald Trump has offered a blanket pardon to January 6 rioters, some of whom are now back on the streets committing violent crimes. Down in Florida, one of those rioters, Andrew Paul Johnson, was just convicted of having sex with a child under 12 and another under 16. He told one victim he would give him money from a “payout” from the Trump administration if he didn’t talk about it.
Numerous other January 6 rioters have committed further crimes. In North Carolina, one recipient of a Trump pardon was accused of having sex with two minors and photographing them. Other sex offenders received pardons as well.
Where is the Republican outrage now? Trump offered a blanket pardon to violent offenders without so much as evaluating their records, and now they are out offending again.
Trump continues to cover up the Epstein files. He is accused of protecting his billionaire buddies from being held accountable for abusing and trafficking young girls. Photos of Trump with these girls indicate he at least knew what was going on, if he wasn’t participating himself.
In other countries, men’s careers are ending in disgrace because of their association with Epstein. In the United States, the Attorney General is screaming at Members of Congress for trying to get to the bottom of the biggest sex scandal in history. The whole Republican Party is involved in the coverup.
Republicans have used the “crime issue” to scare Americans into their camp for decades. Democrats need to flip the script: Republicans are the party that’s soft on crime. In fact, they aren’t just soft on crime; they are encouraging it by signaling that if you are on the “right team,” you won’t be held accountable.
In Cooper’s second term as governor, North Carolina’s crime rate dropped every year following the nationwide increase during COVID. Violent crime, in particular, fell dramatically.
In contrast, one of Donald Trump’s first actions of his second term was a blanket pardon that put violent people, including sex abusers, back on the street. He is essentially selling pardons to his allies and the highest bidders, creating a two-tiered system of justice: one for the rich and another for the rest of us.
Michael Whatley says the only reason he’s running for Senate is because Donald Trump asked him to. If he wants to make crime an issue, he needs to weigh in on the Epstein scandal, the January 6 pardons, and the billionaires buying their way out of trouble. Where do you stand, Michael?
Absolutely spot on. Only thing better would be if Whatley himself has any involvement not just Trump. Billboards, ads anything else to undercut what’s coming. Throw everything at them.
Oh come on now. The Republican Crime Party is doing a great job covering up rape, treason, murder, and of course pedophilia. In today's upside down world, the cover-up is what matters most! It's sick, but it's the GOP way.