Republicans and Women's Rights

One of the biggest challenges I have faced when writing about current Republican politics is how to tell the truth about what Republicans are doing without sounding crazy. Cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump routinely makes insane statements which are generally ignored by the media and brushed off as jokes by his supporters. Even Trump opponents will adamantly argue that discussing such statements is falling for Trump's attempt to distract from more important issues. So, the level of crazy that is routine for this administration may not be widely known. Prior to last November's election, the DCUM Political Discussion forum was full of posts by an individual who was fixated on Project 2025. Frankly, the poster generally sounded in need of mental health assistance. Now, I am forced to acknowledge that poster had the most accurate predictions of anyone. The dilemma that I face is how to provide necessary commentary on what is factually true without ending up like that poster and sounding like a raving lunatic. The simple truth is that accurate reporting on today's Republican politics sounds insane and makes the messenger appear crazy. Today I am going to step directly into this predicament and address increasing signs that Republicans see women as second-class citizens.

There are plenty of indications that Republicans, at least Republican men though many Republican women as well, are not as supportive of women's rights as many might hope. Whether it is far-right lunatic Nick Fuentes gloating, "Your body, my choice. Forever" or the not-quite-as-far-right and not-quite-as-crazy Marjorie Taylor Greene complaining about her party's treatment of women and saying that "I think there are other women in our party that are really sick and tired of the way men treat Republican women," one need not even leave the right end of the political spectrum to get an indication of the negative attitudes that exist toward women among Republicans. Obviously, nobody needs to be reminded that Republicans traditionally oppose a woman’s right to choose when it comes to abortion and frequently support other measures that endanger women's reproductive health. But even more dangerous threats have started to show up in Republican discourse.

First, I should acknowledge that the view of women as second-class citizens generally does not exist in a vacuum. Rather, it is normally part of another, broader, supremacist view. This is often Christian nationalism or White supremacy. For instance, in October of last year, Darren Beattie wrote on X that "Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men." This is clearly language associated with White supremacy. One might think that expressing such a belief would result in Beattie being ostracized from any political post. What politician would want to be associated with this thinking? The answer is Donald Trump. Almost immediately after assuming office for his second term, Trump appointed Beattie to a position in the U.S. Department of State where Beattie currently serves as the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. In July, Trump appointed Beattie to be acting president of the United States Institute of Peace. These are important positions to be held by someone who does not believe that women and minorities are capable of being in charge of things.

The view of women as second-class citizens is not limited to Republican men. Some Republican women hold similar views. For instance, take Mylie Biggs. She is the daughter of Republican Representative Andy Biggs, who is one of Trump's strongest supporters. A year ago, Mylie Biggs appeared on a local podcast in her home state of Arizona. During that appearance, she said that "Honestly, I don’t know if I would vote for any female. I don’t know if females should be in office". She went on to say, "Yeah, I don’t think women should hold office in general. That’s my position. That’s my stance. I think women should run the home." Returning to the podcast again this past December, Biggs returned to the same theme, saying, "Have you seen ones where it’s like, if women were the only ones to vote, what it would look like and it’s literally like 80% blue...It’s like, ‘Whoa. Repeal the 19th Amendment.’" The kicker in this example is that Mylie Biggs has recently filed to run for a seat in the Arizona State Senate. It will be interesting to see how she reconciles her position concerning not voting for women and thinking that women should not hold office with campaigning to ask Arizonans to vote for her.

But the most prominent example of Republicans marginalizing women came from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Last month, Hegseth retweeted a video of a CNN segment discussing Doug Wilson, cofounder of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. During the video, a pastor from Wilson's church supported the repeal of women's right to vote from the Constitution. Another participant in the video said that women should submit to their husbands, and a second pastor argued in favor of families voting as a household with the husband casting the vote. Hegseth’s remark when he retweeted the video was "All of Christ for All of Life." When media outlets reached out to Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell asking about the video, Parnell's reaction was to say that Hegseth is "a proud member of a church" affiliated with Wilson and "very much appreciates many of Mr. Wilson’s writings and teachings." Hegseth has invited his personal pastor to the Pentagon to lead Christian prayer services. Hegseth has taken no steps to distance himself from the views about women expressed in the video. To the contrary, many of Hegseth's actions are consistent with the view that women are not the equal of men. For instance, one of Hegseth's first moves was to fire Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Lee Fagan. She was the first uniformed woman to lead the military branch. Hegseth then removed Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Navy's first female chief. This left the military without a single woman in a four-star general or admiral leadership position. Similarly, he fired Vice Admiral Yvette Davids from her post as the first female superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy. Hegseth has essentially purged the top ranks of the military of women.

While Hegseth's retweeting of the video created a significant stir, it did not receive any noticeable pushback from within the Trump administration. Wilson, the pastor featured in the video, was thrilled with the attention. Talking about Hegseth's retweet, Wilson said, "Hegseth didn’t just repost it — he reposted it and said Amen… I think the 19th Amendment was a bad idea." To be clear, that is an inaccurate account of Hegseth's action. However, it probably correctly describes how the retweet is being perceived among those sharing Wilson's views towards women. We sometimes talk about dog whistles, but this was a foghorn. It was heard loud and clear.

Back to the original dilemma that I described at the beginning of this post. Does any reasonable person believe that a woman's right to vote is under threat? No. No reasonable person believes such a thing. Another question, however, is whether reasonable people should believe such a thing? I think the answer to that is a qualified "maybe." Clearly, the administration and the Republican Party more broadly have influential members who view women as second-class citizens. It is equally clear that Trump has not pushed back against such views. Believing that only "competent white men" should be in charge or amplifying the view that women should not be allowed to vote is not a barrier in this administration. It is irresponsible not to acknowledge this fact.

I am sure that some readers (assuming this blog has readers, which is always an open question) are thinking, what about the 19th Amendment? True, it is difficult to get rid of amendments. But since when has Trump let that stand in his way? The 14th Amendment clearly says that anyone born in the United States is a citizen, yet Trump signed an executive order denying birthright citizenship. Moreover, there are ways to inhibit women's voting that are short of outright prohibition. For instance, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act or SAVE Act, which has been passed by the House of Representatives, would require voters to provide a birth certificate or passport to prove U.S. citizenship. An estimated 69 million American women have a birth certificate that does not match their legal name. That means that nearly a quarter of the voting population would face a significant hurdle — either needing to get a new birth certificate or obtain a passport — in order to vote. That could significantly reduce women's votes. Imagine a number of such measures that would result in women's voting dying a death of a thousand cuts?

Ideas that were once crazy have been normalized in this administration. As I have lamented, simply describing reality can make you sound crazy. But if this administration has taught us anything, it is that no idea is too insane to be implemented. Who would have imagined that a 19-year-old guy nicknamed "Big Balls" would be given significant control of the U.S. government, able to fire career professionals who were experts in their field, and gain access to some of the government's most sensitive information? Who would have thought that legal residents who were following all the laws could be grabbed off the street and renditioned to El Salvador's most brutal prison? Who would have predicted that international college students would be detained for months in barbaric conditions for simply writing an op-ed or participating in peaceful protests? And who would have thought that the aforementioned Big Balls would be the victim of an attempted carjacking that led to Trump taking control of the Metropolitan Police Department and sending in the National Guard? If I had predicted these things on January 20th, many of you would have suggested that I need to take some time off and probably referred me to a therapist. But this is where we are.