CBC Editorial: Monday, April 11, 2022; Editorial #8752
The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company
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Donald Trump and the supporting cast at the “Save America” rally on Saturday in Selma labeled themselves “America First” Republicans.
Any rational, sober and honest person watching and listening would better describe them as “truth last” Republicans. Let’s hope they represent a fringe group.
The errors of fact, the errors of omission, the errors of exaggeration and out-and-out dishonesty were shocking – even given the former president’s lowly standard for truthfulness.
We’ll start with the crowd. Right Side Broadcasting Network – launched to stream Trump rallies – contended there were 20,000 people at the rally. Nearly every other independent report put the crowd at about 2,000 to 5,000 tops.
Was the rally about “Saving America” or restoring the Confederacy and all the lost-causes that rebellion stood for? See for yourself.
Dark money organizations – at least those who lead them but not perhaps those who finance them – are delightfully invited out of the shadows. Trump made it a major point to both recognize and bring to the stage David MacIntosh who heads up the Club for Growth. That’s the operation that has pledged to pump at least $14 million into the GOP Senate primary to boost Trump-endorsed Ted Budd.
Rep. Dan Bishop avoided holding those responsible for the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection accountable. “Let’s find out, once and for all, how many feds were at the Capitol on January 6. And why did Pelosi leave the Capitol unprepared,” Bishop said.
What Bishop didn’t mention was that just a day earlier Charles Donohoe of Kernersville and a leader of the Proud Boys, confessed and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and assaulting an officer. He’s agreed to provide information to prosecutors about what the top members of the organization had planned for the Jan. 6 attack.
Also, Trump called to former Gov. Pat McCrory -- who is running in the GOP Senate primary -- as "the bathroom governor." Trump added "what a mess that was!" It was a reference to the disastrous HB2 law concerning gender designation for bathroom use that cost the state billions in canceled tourism, athletic and economic development opportunities. What wasn't mentioned -- it was Bishop who was the law's chief architect when he was a state legislator.
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson ridiculed Ketanji Brown Jackson, the recently-affirmed U.S. Supreme Court Justice nominee. “We just put a justice on the supreme Court who is the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. Unfortunately she can't define womanhood." In his desperation for an applause line, Robinson overlooked the fact that those who demanded Brown Jackson define womanhood weren’t able to do it themselves. North Carolina’s Madison Cawthorn, on the floor of the House of Representatives, made a lame and embarrassing attempt. “Take notes, Madame Speaker. I’m about to define what a woman is for you. X chromosomes, no tallywhacker. It’s so simple.”
Rep. Greg Murphy wrongly placed blame for the opioid abuse epidemic. “For the first time in 12 months we lost 100,000 Americans due to opioid overdoses. … The cost of Fentanyl, because of Joe’s open border policy is now 50% less because of the flood of drugs over our border. And when Joe takes out Title 42 he’s admitted we are going to have a massive influx of individuals and drugs and the opioid epidemic will hit our streets like never before.” Murphy, who is a physician, should know better than most where the responsibility for the opioid epidemic rests. Easy access right here in the U.S. to prescription opioids has been the root of the epidemic. Last week a Columbus County doctor was sentenced to six years in prison for running a “pill mill.” The doctor handed out nearly 2 million doses of addictive prescription medications.
As critical settlements with major drug companies that have been negotiated by North Carolina’s Attorney General Josh Stein have demonstrated, that is where the fault and responsibility for the epidemic rests. These settlements reached with Johnson and Johnson, Perdue Pharma, mean North Carolina has about $850 million to spend to treat and prevent opioid addiction and abuse.
Finally there’s Trump’s error-filled speech. Set aside his lies about the election – which WAS NOT stolen – or his misstatements about Ukraine and Russia. What about his comments on wind energy? “Windmills, we want windmills all over the place. I don't see any windmills here. ... If you're near a windmill and you have a house, your house is like pretty much worthless. Kills all the birds, ruins your landscapes and it's the most expensive form of energy there is.” First, Scientific American reports that “wind energy is one of the cheapest sources of electricity.”
Second – just a two-hour drive east from Selma is the state’s major wind farm. Not only does it produce enough electricity to power 61,000 homes, the owners are the largest property taxpayers in rural Perquimans and Pasquotank counties. That is what a true jolt to the economy looks like.
Voters in North Carolina and America aren’t afraid of competing ideas about the role of government from Republicans and Democrats. They embrace it as part of the way to make informed choices when determining the candidates they’ll support.
You don’t make American great through the kind of prejudice and dishonesty on display at the Selma rally on Saturday. There was no surprise in Trump’s performance. North Carolina’s politicians at the event should know better and have offered something positive for North Carolina’s future. They’re a disappointment.