Monthly Archives: February 2022

With a state budget surplus of nearly $3 billion and determination to fight federal mandates, Spartanburg area lawmakers have plenty on their plates in this, the second year of the 124th session of the South Carolina General Assembly.

Bills filed address vaccine and mask mandates, abortion, critical race theory, gun rights, tax reform, election integrity, and marijuana decriminalization. There'seven a bill to designate the enjoyment of antique motor vehicles as the official family-friendly pastime of South Carolina.

Here is a look at some bills and issues supported by Spartanburg area lawmakers:

Marijuana possession, H 3228, decriminalizes possession of an ounce or less of marijuana and 10 grams or less of hashish. The bill was referred last year to the House Judiciary Committee.

Law enforcement diversity, H 3667, requires law agencies in communities "with a relatively high concentration of minority residents" to recruit, train and promote minority officers.The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

Law enforcement civilian review board, H 3668, requires local governments to establish a law enforcement civilian review board to investigate incidents involving the use of force by a law enforcement officer, review internal investigations and recommend disciplinary actions.

Domestic violence,H 4765, allows a court to admit evidence of a previously committed offense by a defendant in a criminal domestic case proceeding.

Primaries, H 3496, requires voters to register by party affiliation and allows voters to cast ballots only in their party's partisan primary election. Partisan voters may not switch parties for two years.

Homestead property tax exemption, H 3452, increases the homestead property tax exemption from the first $50,000 to the first $100,000 of fair market value.

Social media, S551, requires the owner ofa social media website to notify a user when their account is disabled or suspended, with an explanation of why.

Medical Ethics and Diversity Act, S 811, allows doctors, nurses and other medical practitioners to decline to participate in health care services that violate their conscience.

Tax cuts, S 924, also sponsored by Sen. Scott Talley of Spartanburg, the Job Creation and Competitiveness Act of 2022 would eliminate all South Carolina business income taxes for C and S corporations and limited liability corporations and cut the personal top rate from 7% to 3.5% and close sales tax loopholes to cover the cost.

"This is important if we want to remain competitive with North Carolina in the coming years with their cutting of taxes," Kimbrell said.

Threatening public officials, H 3728, creates a felony offense with up to 30 years in jail for threatening to kill or harm a public official, public employee, teacher, principal or immediate family member when the threat is directly related to their job.

"You know the world is turned upside down right now," Hyde said at a press conference last month in announcing the bill. "We need to turn it right side up,and this is one way."

Trail tax credits, H 3120, provide a tax credit to any property owner who voluntarily grants a permanent, public recreational trail easement. A similar bill sponsored by Senator Talley, S 774, is in the Senate.

"The tax credit would serve as another way toencourage the growth of trail systems across the state," Hyde said. "A local example would be The Dan (Daniel Morgan Trail System). This concept is an all-around win because it cuts taxes, drives economic development and improves the health of our citizens."

Second Amendment Protection Act, S 0369, also sponsored by Sen. Shane Martin, of Pauline, prevents federal agents and South Carolina authorities from enforcing any federal laws related to firearms and ammunition.

The most pressing legislation is passage of bills to protect residents from federal vaccine and mask mandates, according to Republican state Rep. Josiah Magnuson of Campobello.

H 3126 makes it unlawful for any state or local government to accept federal funds to enforce a federal mask or vaccine mandate. It also makes an employee eligible for unemployment benefits if he or she is fired or suspended because they don't receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

A Senate version sponsored by Republican Sens. Shane Martin of Pauline and Tom Corbin, Greenville-Spartanburg, S 177, requires a COVID vaccination to be "purely voluntary" and forbids employers from firing or suspending anyone who is not vaccinated.

Judicial constitutional amendment, H 3284, also sponsored by Rep. Long, provides that Supreme Court justices, judges on the Court of Appeals and Circuit Court judges be appointed by the governor with the consent of the Senate, rather than being elected by the General Assembly.

Magnuson said he also supports income tax reform that would cut the top rate from 7% to 4.5%.

"Florida and Tennessee now have zero income tax and North Carolina and Georgia both just cut their income taxes again," he said. "South Carolinians are in desperate need of a break."

Abortion is another hot topic this year, with the U.S. Supreme Court taking up a case that could result in the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark case that protects a pregnant woman's right to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.

This week, the Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee that Martin chairs passed S988, which would criminalize abortion in South Carolina if Roe v. Wade is overturned. A similar bill, H 4830, is in the House and is sponsored by Magnuson and Long.

In addition to fighting federal COVID vaccine mandates, Martin said he wants to increase support for law enforcement, including corrections and the judiciary.

"I chaired the budget subcommittee that got the Highway Patrol a $6,000 raise this year and am working on doing more across the board," he said.

He also said he supports giving teachers "higher compensation and far, far less regulation."

Rep. Bill Chumley, R-Reidville, has filed a bill that would designate the restoration, showing and enjoyment of classic and antique motor vehicles as the official family-friendly pastime of the state. Two other area lawmakers co-sponsored the bill, Long and Henderson-Myers.

"From Model Ts and Packards, to Mustangs and foreign cars, there is a type for any collector, and a community of like-minded people who enjoy the collection, restoration, and exhibition of antique or other classic cars," the bill states.

"Whether under a shade tree, in a residential garage, or in a modern facility with all of the bells and whistles, all of these enthusiasts share the same passion: taking a discarded or neglected heap of rolling metal and turning it into a showpiece that can be appreciated for generations yet to be born."

The bill sits in the House Education and Public Works Committee.

Contact Bob Montgomery at bob.montgomery@shj.com

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Marijuana decriminalization, tax cuts among top priorities of Spartanburg lawmakers - Spartanburg Herald Journal

Slippery Rock Mayor Jondavid Longo, announced his intention to run for a Pennsylvania House seat during a rally at the North County Brewing Company on Jan. 23.

Although this is not an official campaign announcement, due to Pennsylvania redistricting plans still not being finalized, the Republican mayor made his intentions clear to the crowd.

Over 100 supporters filed into the North County Brewing Company tap room to hear from prominent Republican public servants and speakers in western Pennsylvania, and how they plan to increase Republican wins across the state this year, in what they call a red wave.

Speakers at the Red Wave Rally included Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe, New Castle Mayor Chris Frye, Pennsylvania Rep. Josh Kail (R-PA18), former U.S. House of Representatives Republican candidate Luke Negron and Hermitage School District Board Member Andrew Bucci.

Despite the many speakers to take the stage, their message remained unified on the importance of leadership.

Leadership is something that I know is vitally important to all of us, Frye said. To our communities, to our schools, to our organization and to your life.

Bucci, Hermitage School Districts youngest board member at 18-years-old, called for everyone, especially younger Americans, to get involved with the process.

I believe, and still do believe, that my generation needs to get involved, Bucci said. We need to stand up and show them that we matter too.

Young voters came out to show their support for Longo and the other Republican speakers.

Grove City College sophomore Nick Guidas said he believes Longo to be a great leader and has his support, 100 percent.

By the end of the guests speeches, the crowds anticipation for Longos announcement filled the room. Finally, once on the stage, he was greeted by a roaring applause of excitement. Attendants rose to their feet, holding signs that read Citizens for Longo while simultaneously waving small American flags.

As Im sure many of you have heard, Pennsylvania is adopting new legislative districts, and Slippery Rock may become part of an entirely new district, Mayor Longo said. Should the newly proposed maps hold, I fully intend to run a campaign to serve as your State Representative in Pennsylvanias new 8th legislative district.

Longo, who previously served as an infantryman in the Marines, was recently elected to a second term as Slippery Rocks mayor. He believes that these two services have prepared him for what is waiting in Harrisburg.

I think first and foremost it is important to remember that [all] Marines are leaders, Longo said. Those leadership traits and characteristics that were instilled in me as a United States Marine, of course, Im going to carry for the rest of my life.

Longo also discussed what hes been able to do for Slippery Rock during his time as mayor. From lowering the costs of permits and fees for small businesses, to having never raised taxes for Slippery Rock residents and establishing the Slippery Rock Borough as a Second Amendment sanctuary city, Longo said he has done what he can to reshape Slippery Rock.

Weve been able to turn the view of our community around, Longo said. This is a place that you come to have fun, its a place to come and shop and more importantly its a place where you can come to get a great education.

The mayor spoke about how important his main priority of not wasting taxpayer dollars is, and how he plans to bring these ideals of responsible spending down to Harrisburg.

At the top of my list, and its been at the top of my list as Mayor of Slippery Rock, is fiscal responsibility, Longo said. Making sure that whenever it comes to the spending of taxpayer dollars, that we are being good stewards of the taxpayers dollars.

Longos potential campaign all hinges on the passing of the newly proposed legislative districts but those plans might not be finalized for weeks.

Redistricting plans have stalled within the Pennsylvania commission in charge of drawing up new maps for legislative and congressional districts. The redistricting commission will have until Sunday to select a final map. If they dont, itll be up to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court to either select a proposed map or draw one.

Proposals for the new maps were to be submitted to the Commonwealth Court Jan. 24.

The proposed map received nearly 6,000 comments from the public last week. That map will create a newly formed 8th District for the Pennsylvania House which will include both Slippery Rock Borough and parts of Slippery Rock Township covering nearly 65,000 residents in Butler County.

Currently, Pennsylvania Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-PA10) serves the Slippery Rock Borough and Township.

When the new districts are decided upon, many of Longos supporters are excited to see what he does next, including long-time supporter George Ferrari of Butler.

Hes moving on to the next step, Ferrari said of Longos political future.

Joe is a senior communication major with concentrations in converged journalism and digital media production. This is his second year with The Rocket and first as the news editor. With a penchant for asking tough questions, his byline can be found on more than 100 articles for The Rocket including many breaking news and investigative pieces. During the hours hes not wearing the hat of student journalist, he spends his time as a husband, father and dog owner in Slippery Rock.

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Slippery Rock Mayor Longo announces hes ready for the next step - SRU The Online Rocket

This story was originally published April 15, 2021, by The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom covering gun violence in America. Sign up for its newsletters here.

This story also appeared in The Trace

Twenty years ago, only one state allowed residents to carry firearms without a license. Tennessee just became the 19th state to adopt permitless carry.

Amid a deadly surge in gun violence over the last year,several Republican-led states are expanding gun rights, sometimes against the advice of local law enforcement agencies.

So far in 2021, at least four states Utah, Montana, Iowa, and Tennessee have approved laws that would allow the carrying of firearms without a state-issued permit, a background check, or training. Several other state legislatures,including those in Texas and South Carolina, are considering similar legislation and could add to the list of 19 states with the most permissive form of concealed carry laws.

Like many other states, Tennessee saw a significant increase in firearm fatalities in 2020. Knoxville saw arecord-high numberof killings in 2020.In Nashville and Memphis, homicides rose by 32 percent and 48 percent, respectively,accordingto the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice. In Memphis, which has long struggled with elevated rates of gun violence, that trend has worsened. As of March 2, 2021, the city has had 55 homicides this year. Over the same time period in 2020, there had been only 29 homicides, according to a resolution the Memphis City Council sent to state lawmakers in opposition to the permitless carry bill.

Still, on April 8, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed House Bill 786, a law that will allow Tennessee residents to carry handguns openly or concealed without a permit. The law applies to people 21 and older (as well as members of the military who are over 18), and goes into effect on July 1.

The successes of gun rights proponents in 2021 come after 2020 marked the largest number of firearm homicides in at least 20 years, an increase many experts attribute to the COVID-19 pandemic. TheGun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that operates a database of gun violence incidents in the United States, tracked 3,947 more firearm homicides in 2020 than in 2019.

The growth of permitless carry is a relatively recent trend. Just two decades ago, only one state, Vermont, allowed residents to carry firearms without permits. In2003, Alaska legalized permitless carry. It was another seven years before Arizona followed suit. In the last 11 years, as Republican lawmakers gained more power in state legislatures and increasingly embraced less restrictive gun laws, an additional 16 states have legalized permitless carry.

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States are looking to expand gun rights just as President Joe Biden promotes his new plans forexecutive action on gun reformand as Democratic members of Congress push for federal action onbackground checks. Permitless carry laws, often called constitutional carry by proponents, are popular among conservative gun rights advocates who say permit requirements limit their rights to carry guns for self defense. Supporters argue that the Constitution gives a person a right not just to own guns but to carry them, and that permits infringe upon that right.Every stateallows the carrying of concealed firearms, but most still require permits and many requireproof of firearms knowledge or hands-on trainingand abackground check.

In Tennessee, the governor, a conservative Republican, has said the permitless carry bill is part of his public safety agenda and that it would help reduce gun violence in the Volunteer State: This particular piece of legislation not only protects the Second Amendment but it actually creates a safer environment and stiffens penalties for those that break the law, Lee said during a National Rifle Association town hall in late March. Thelaw makestheft of a firearm a felony instead of a misdemeanor and also bars felons convicted of possessing a firearm from getting early release. Lee said he believes the increased penalties will deter theft and illegal possession, adding that lifting regulations on law-abiding citizens does nothing to increase crime, adding: Its increasingly important in this country. Thats why you see every year more and more states across the country bringing this piece of legislation forward.

Law enforcement organizations in Tennessee have disputed the suggestion that the new law will improve public safety, with most including the states police chiefs and sheriffs associations and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations opposing the legislation. Law enforcement leaders, including Memphis police chief, say that removing the permit requirement will make it harder for police to determine who possesses firearms through legal means.

Opponents of the change have pointed to a 2014 law that allowed people to carry guns in their cars without permits. That change contributed to an increase in drive-by shootings and guns stolen from cars, said Bill Gibbons, the president of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission, a nonprofit focused on public safety in Memphis.

Between 2013 and 2018, the number of guns stolen from cars in Memphis rose256 percent, according to data compiled by the commission. Gibbons said he doesnt oppose concealed or open carry, but does fear similar consequences from permitless carry. Youre simply going to have more people on our streets and in our neighborhoods, carrying guns with no training and no background check, he said. I think the result for that is very obvious.

Delvin Lane leads the 901 B.L.O.C. Squad, a group that has been battling violence in Memphis for nearly a decade. Lanesaid he understood the desire for law-abiding people to have protection by carrying guns, but worries that the change will lead to more guns in cars and on the streets. They are kind of taking you back to the old cowboy days where everybody had a gun, he said. What that would do is increase the opportunity for a lot of guns to be stolen.

There is a dearth of research on the effects of permitless carry laws. Part of the delay in research on the effects of permitless carry laws is that, for the most part, theyre relatively rare before 2016, said Rosanna Smart, the lead author of a RAND Corporationmetastudyon the effects of gun laws. As for permissive concealed carry laws generally, limited evidence points toward more firearm violence versus less, Smart said. Somestudieshave found that more permissive concealed carry laws are associated with increased levels of violent crime, but the strength of the association is still disputed. One study from theAmerican Journal of Public Healthfound that shall-issue permit laws which give law enforcement agencies little discretion to deny permits were associated with a 10.6 percent increase in handgun homicide rates.

Proponents of permitless carry have not been successful everywhere in 2021. InIndiana, a proposal to allow residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit died in the state Senate. Legislation is stalled inFloridaand Alabama, where gun rights supporters have pushed similar legislation for years to no avail. Proposals in North Carolina and Louisiana are also stalled, and a bill to allow permitless carry died in Georgia when the Legislature adjourned for the year. It remains alive for the current session and the governor has announced his support for it.

Meanwhile, several states have passed or are advancing other pro-gun bills. In Arizona, Governor Doug Ducey on April 6 signed a Second Amendment sanctuarybillbarring state law enforcement agencies from enforcing some federal firearms laws. Lawmakers inMontanahave sent a similar bill to their governor, and similar bills are advancing in Missouri and in North Dakota, where lawmakers are also considering a stand your ground bill that removes the duty to retreat before using deadly force. In New Hampshire, the state House passeda billon April 7 that would expand the statespreemption law, which limits local gun regulations.

A fifth and potentially sixth state could still legalize permitless carry this year. On April 7, the South Carolina House of Representatives approved a permitless carry bill, sending it to the state Senate. That bill,HB3096, would also allow people to carry a loaded firearm openly or concealed in public without a background check or safety training. In Texas, a permitless carry bill has been approved by a House committee and awaits a floor vote, though the billcould be held upin the Senate.

Eliminating the background check and permit requirement for carrying in public has been a top priority of the gun rights movement for the past several years, said Allison Anderman, senior counsel at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. And in states where they control the legislature, theyre getting it done.

This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at thetrace.org.

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On Jan. 10, the school board in McMinn County, Tennessee, voted 10-0 to remove Maus from the eighth-grade history curriculum. The book, a graphic novel by Jewish American cartoonist Art Spiegelman depicting the grim realities of the Holocaust, expressed the absolute inhumanity of what happened in clear terms that children could understand.

As the child of Polish-born parents who lost much of his own family to the Holocaust, Spiegelman understood the gravity of the subject matter and committed himself to one clear idea: Never again.

To its great shame, the school board argued the book contained objectionable language and was unsuitable for use in the classroom. Despite pleas from history teachers concerning the importance and effectiveness of the work, the conservative school board chose to diminish its own school communitys understanding of the horrors of Nazism. Ironically, it did so by taking a tactic directly employed by Nazis themselves.

In 1933, German logician Olaf Helmer was busy writing his doctoral dissertation in the mathematics building at the University of Berlin when he looked through a window and noticed a group of thugs building a bonfire, then hurling library books into the flames. He immediately knew whose books they were, but the thugs confirmed his worst fears. He heard them shouting I condemn to the flames the work of the Jew.

Helmer who one of us interviewed two decades ago, when he was 94 escaped Germany in 1934, emigrating to America to become the assistant to a logician at the University of Chicago. He worked for the Air Force and became an American citizen, and in 1968 he co-founded the Institute for the Future, a nonprofit think tank. Still, he never shook the memory of losing family in the Holocaust. He drew a straight line from books thrown into bonfires to bodies burned in ovens.

Personal interviews with others who, like Helmer, managed to escape the Nazis, revealed similar haunted memories. Survivors have trouble using words to describe a society being taken over by genocidal hatred. They often rely on understatement, accented with sarcasm, and Helmer was no different. It was very unpleasant, he said, the last year there.

As scholars who studied the period, we knew the horrors that Helmer and the others were hinting at. As adults, we could read the pain beneath their sarcasm. Children, however, struggle to recognize such cues, and as a result, struggle to understand that such evil is possible. Spiegelmans answer to that dilemma was Maus.

If the Tennessee school boards ban had been an isolated incident, perhaps it might be dismissed as a localized example of overzealous language policing. Sadly, its merely the latest in a string of concerted censorship efforts targeting the actual history of people who suffered at the hands of white Americans and Europeans. It belongs alongside recent opposition to the 1619 Project, which chronicles the collective sin of American slavery; the attacks on the teaching of critical race theory, which has nothing to do with critical race theory and everything to do with not allowing critical thinking about race in America; and the dont say gay laws recently proposed in Florida.

We all saw the photographs of the January 6 insurrectionist proudly wearing a Club Auschwitz sweatshirt. We all heard the Charlottesville protesters chanting Jews will not replace us, just before being called very fine people by the then-president. Weve all seen the right-wing meme depicting a murdered man of color above the abhorrent caption Black Lives Splatter. Weve all seen postings by militia members calling for a race war in America, listened to Reps. Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Boebert echo the call for a Second Amendment solution and watched Rep. Madison Cawthorne take out and clean his handgun during an online House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing.

Worse still, the former president has signaled his approval of the insurrection. Most recently, at a rally in Texas on Saturday, he said, If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly, he noted. And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons. He also decried investigations into his business practices and possible election tampering all headed by African-American prosecutors as racist, fanning the flames of right-wing racial grievances. The same weekend saw a neo-Nazi rally in Orlando, complete with Hitler salutes and signs reading Vax the Jews, vandalism at a Chicago synagogue and swastikas scrawled all over Union Station in Washington, D.C.

This, we fear, is what Olaf Helmer saw coming in Germany. This is the looming horror that Art Spiegelman tried to depict for children, and for us all. We cannot claim to be unable to see the warnings. They are right here.

Helmer noted that he saw right through the Nazi charade at the bonfire. Afterward, you could still find copies of the books they burned works by Albert Einstein and other Jews in the university library. They were very careful, he said, not to burn the last copy. The Nazis may have been evil, but they were not so stupid as to destroy their own access to knowledge. As for our homegrown nationalists here in America, we should be worried that they will.

Steven Gimbel is professor of philosophy and affiliate of the Jewish studies program at Gettysburg College. Gwydion Suilebhan is executive director of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation and project director of the New Play Exchange for the National New Play Network.

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Gimbel & Suilebhan: The Banning of 'Maus' Is Only the Latest Echo from the Rise of the Nazis. We Cannot Claim to Not See the Warnings - The 74

Once relegated to corners of the internet, the anti-vaccine movement has emerged as a force within Republican politics encouraged by some of the most prominent figures in conservative media and top operatives in the MAGA movement. Their growth has come despite overwhelming evidence that individuals are far less likely to have severe illness or die from Covid if theyre vaccinated and boosted. And while theyre a minority in the party, they are forcing GOP lawmakers and top officials to confront a new set of questions: Is being anti-vaccine mandate enough for a Republican with national ambitions, or does one have to show, explicitly or implicitly, skepticism with the vaccine itself?

The vaccine hesitant, the vaccine resistant and the anti-vaxx are a rising political force in the country a force that will start to gain power in the primaries. Even President Trumps most ardent MAGA followers vaccinated or not do not want him discussing this, former top Trump adviser Steve Bannon wrote in a text.

Right-wing influencers like Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and Bannon have all raised questions about the efficacy of vaccines or have invited anti-vaxxers to speak to their millions of viewers. Favorite guests have included Robert Malone, an infectious disease expert who appeared at an anti-vaccine rally in Washington D.C. last weekend and declared vaccines arent working, and Alex Berenson, an anti-vaccine writer who told Fox News viewers that no one should get mRNA covid vaccines. Popular podcaster Joe Rogan has elevated some of these voices on his platform, which is listened to by millions, sparking backlash and leading to him clarifying on Monday that hed balance out the views he presents.

Unvaccinated former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin last week publicly flouted New York Citys vaccine mandate for restaurants, even after she contracted Covid. Lawmakers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) have boasted of skipping the vaccine. Others who Trump has endorsed have insisted against overwhelming evidence the vaccine doesnt work. And others have not talked about their booster shot status. DeSantis said he didnt want his vaccination status to be a weapon for people to use.

The growth of the vaccine skeptical universe has caused alarm within the Republican party, where officials note that in addition to the serious public health consequences the position carries obvious political risks.

For those primaries where Republicans are treading a little too far to the right, thats going to be an issue. If they plan on being competitive or being a credible candidate in the general election, polls have shown people supportive of vaccines and not of mandates, said one top Republican strategist working on the midterms, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the state of the party.

Chris Jankowski, a Republican strategist and former president of the Republican State Leadership Committee said, the numbers arent there for a Republican to win a general election while casting doubts on the vaccines.

Theres not a significant single issue anti-vax vote that makes people fall in line like pro-life or the second amendment. And with President Trump continually saying get the vaccine, that tempers the growth of the anti-vax movement, he said.

Straddling all of it is Trump, who has vacillated between being reluctant about talking about vaccinations, wanting to take credit for the Operation Warp Speed vaccine development, and eager to avoid backlash from his MAGA supporters for promoting the vaccine and booster shots too aggressively. Unvaccinated Americans lean Republican by a 3-to-1 margin, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. And even Trump fans have copped to feeling bewildered or betrayed by those relatively few instances where he has touted the importance of getting vaccinated.

Its causing more confusion with his base than anything, said Diane Meade, a supporter who came to Trumps rally in Arizona.

On Saturday night in Texas, Trump noted Operation Warp Speed but said its time to move on from the coronavirus. We have to tell this band of hypocrites, tyrants and racists that were done with having them control our lives, mess with our children and close our businesses, Trump said.

After the rally, pundits on the conservative Newsmax channel noted the disconnect between the vaccine skeptics in the audience and the former president.

President Trump had taken some heat about talking about the vaccines and the greatness of Operation Warp Speed, said Newsmax host Grant Stinchfield. Hes a little off on that issue where the crowd is, but hes listening to them, another host replied.

In December, Trump had appeared to stake out a seeming middle ground approach, when he responded to being booed at a History Tour with former Fox News host Bill OReilly for announcing he received a booster shot. Youre playing right into their hands when youre sort of like, Oh, the vaccine,' the former president said. If you dont want to take it, you shouldnt be forced to take it. No mandates, but take credit because we saved tens of millions of lives.

That posture anti-mandate but pro-vaccine had been used successfully by Glenn Youngkin in the Virginia gubernatorial election. It has also been adopted and amplified by the majority of GOP officials, even as they pass or push laws that would allow more of their constituents to avoid getting vaccinated. On Friday, Virginia state Attorney General Jason Miyares unveiled new legal guidance that said public colleges cannot mandate the vaccines. And last week in South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem announced her plans for a bill that would allow for religious, medical and natural immunity exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

I dont think its fair to say that this bill has anything to do with being skeptical of the vaccine, said Ian Fury, spokesperson for Noem. The governor is vaccinated and would encourage South Dakotans to choose to get vaccinated as well but it should be a choice, it should be up the personal liberties of those South Dakotans. Public health shouldnt be mandated, and hasnt been mandated.

But in certain corners of the Republican Party, being anti-mandate is not politically sufficient. Influencers and a subset of lawmakers have argued that the campaign to get people vaccinated and boosted itself is problematic. Their skepticism is driven by a belief that government bureaucrats have grown power hungry and that pharmaceutical executives are trying to line their pockets.

Owens, for one, has insisted that Trump was misinformed about vaccines because he has not been privy to Internet research. She declined an interview request for this story, and instead suggested to her followers on Instagram that POLITICOs request was part of a conspiracy to support the pharmaceutical companies that advertise on the site.

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Trump World adjusts to the growing influence of vaccine skeptics within its ranks - POLITICO - Politico