American Bridge 21st Century Weekly Recap: July 31, 2023
Our top moments of the week
From Donald Trump’s failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, to Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves’ refusal to expand Medicaid, to Kentucky gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron’s support of a near-total abortion ban, Republicans are working hard to devastate our healthcare system and harm Americans.
Here are our biggest moments of the week:
1. 100 Days Out from the 2023 General Election
With 100 days until Kentuckians, Mississippians, Louisianians, and Virginians head to the polls to vote for governor and several down-ballot races, GOP candidates across the country are finding themselves steeped in controversy. Read more below about the top issues dominating the biggest races of the 2023 cycle.
Kentucky:
Daniel Cameron, in both Democratic and Republican polling, finds himself being wholeheartedly rejected by Kentucky voters. This comes as little surprise when you look at what Cameron has been campaigning on and the number of controversies he’s courted through the campaign so far:
- Cameron is campaigning on an extreme anti-abortion agenda. Beyond bragging about defending the state’s near total abortion ban, Cameron is now trying to track Kentuckians who want to leave the state to get an abortion — and has all but said he will use his powers as Attorney General to prosecute them.
- Cameron continues to campaign on adopting former Governor Matt Bevin’s disastrous plan to gut Medicaid, which could jeopardize health care for 136,000 Kentuckians and cost the state $270 million.
- A deep investigation shows that Cameron might not be showing up to work as Attorney General as he hasn’t swiped into his office since the beginning of 2020. Instead of his office explaining the records, they continuously refused to give a clear answer if Cameron is in fact showing up for work.
Mississippi:
Tate Reeves, who has some of the highest disapproval ratings of any sitting governor, has been plagued by scandal after scandal (including trying to build a road from his mansion to a mall) and is single-handedly seeing Mississippi’s hospital system fall apart.
- In the last month, an expose detailed how Tate Reeves has built a $1.4 million donor network that he has rewarded with cushy political appointments.
- Reeves has also been bogged down by the infamous Brett Favre TANF scandal and has refused to return donations from perpetrators of the scandal.
- Reeves, who refused to expand Medicaid, has allowed hospital after hospital to close on his watch. This has been particularly devastating in rural Mississippi. All of this has happened as Reeves has given cushy handouts to mega-donors who run a private hospital.
Louisiana:
Attorney General Jeff Landry is the current frontrunner in Louisiana’s jungle primary, which he has solidified by running on an extreme agenda and using his office for partisan gain.
- Landry has weaponized the state’s criminal justice system to target Black Louisianans, including defending a Jim Crow-era law that made it easier to put Black people in jail.
- Landry has an abhorrent record of defending the death penalty, including saying he would oppose every application for appealing the death penalty.
- When he isn’t campaigning Jeff Landry is an abysmal attorney general, losing eight of the 11 cases he’s opposed in court so far.
Virginia Legislative Races:
The Virginia Senate could flip Red and essentially give Gov. Glenn Youngkin a free pass on implementing his extreme agenda. June’s primary results showed that abortion rights will be a top issue, which has shown to be a losing one for the GOP. Primary election spending and Virginia’s campaign finance laws are setting up big money races that will come to a head in November.
2. This F*cking Guy: Trump’s Failed Attempt to Repeal the ACA
On Friday, we celebrated the sixth anniversary of the U.S. Senate blocking Donald Trump’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and slash health care benefits for millions of Americans.
The Trump administration opposed the Affordable Care Act for years, failing multiple times to repeal the law. They sought to dismantle key components of the bill, including protections for those with pre-existing conditions; failed to successfully drive drug costs down despite constant promises; and even put seniors at additional risk for surprise medical billing.
Six years ago, Senator John McCain — who Trump infamously said was “not a war hero” because he was captured and tortured in the Vietnam War — was one of the deciding votes to block Trump’s plan.
3. Daniel Cameron Wants to Prosecute Kentuckians Who Get an Abortion Out of State
In a new report from LEX18, Kentucky Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial nominee Daniel Cameron continuously emphasized that he would not prosecute “pregnant women” who are seeking an abortion — but left the door wide open to prosecute those who go out of state and receive an abortion.
Cameron’s rhetoric and previous actions, including campaigning on defending the state’s near-total abortion ban, make clear he will target those who leave Kentucky and receive an abortion.
In response, American Bridge spokesperson Philip Shulman released the following statement:
“It’s disgustingly clear that Daniel Cameron wants to track people’s personal medical choices and prosecute those who go out of state to seek an abortion. His extremist agenda, which includes defending the state’s near total abortion ban, is endangering Kentuckians’ lives.”
4. Hung Cao Warns of Witchcraft Coming to Virginia
On Thursday, Business Insider reported on the bizarre comments Virginia Republican Senate candidate Hung Cao made in a recent interview, stating that we can’t let the “Wiccan community” come to Virginia.
Also, in the interview, “Cao — a Vietnamese refugee — also remarked that he was African-American by virtue of having spent time in Niger as a child.”
If this is the GOP’s top recruit in Virginia…yikes!
5. No Labels: Let’s “Flip a Coin”
In a shocking new report from Business Insider, No Labels leader Jon Huntsman admitted that to pick who would be at the top of their “unity ticket,” the Republican-funded group would decide by the “flip of a coin.”
When asked if No Labels would run a Democratic or Republican third-party challenger, Huntsman said:
“‘I don’t know if it’s ever going to happen, but we’ll see when we get there,’ replied Huntsman, according to an audio recording of the interaction obtained by Insider. ‘It would be a very interesting experiment. Flip of a coin? How all major decisions are made.’”
