The illiterate, ignorant racism and antisemitism embedded in a substantial segment of Trump’s base, and his Congress, reached new lows last week.  The segment that Hillary stupidly called the “basket of deplorables”.  Stupid because she was a candidate, but I’m not running for or from any of them.  Not even Ms. Clinton pointed to the deplorables in Congress or one who has come to live in the Naval Observatory.

During the week that was, Republican Rep. Glen Clay Higgins of Louisiana’s 3rd tweeted:

“There are 22 million American households receiving SNAP benefits for groceries, at $4200 per year on average.  Try to get your head wrapped around how many pantries you can stock with $4200 dollars (sic) in properly shopped groceries.  Any American who has been receiving $4200 dollars (sic) per year of free groceries and does not have at least 1 month of groceries stocked should never again receive SNAP because wow stop smoking crack.”

As noted mucho times in these pages (e.g., HL 122, Trumpism Is the Perfection of the Reagan Playbook, January 17, 2021) Trumpism’s abominations are perfections of previous Republican set plays, mostly beginning with Ronald Reagan, who made his constant tirade against “welfare queens” the centerpiece of his near miss 1976 campaign and who launched his successful 1980 campaign in Oxford, Mississippi.  The presidential campaign of a former Governor of California in “Oxford town” where “everybody’s got their heads bowed down.”[1]

Rep Higgins was just building on Reagan’s “welfare queens” with his SNAP recipients “smoking crack”.  Four term Higgins “has a reason to get back to Lake Charles”[2] where the Republican voters who keep sending him to Congress apparently love this racist shit.

And what of James David Vance, who would be the King of this shit?  Addressing a Turning Point USA rally in Oxford, Mississippi – where else? – Vance was asked by a self-described “Christian man”:

“I’m just uh confused why – that there’s this notion that we, uh might have or, uh, owe Israel something or that we have to support this multi-hundred-billion-dollar um, foreign aid package to Israel. . . I’m just confused why this idea has come around, considering the fact that not only does their religion not agree with ours but openly supports the prosecution (sic) of ours.”

To his credit, Vance properly divided his response into separate components for Israel and them Jews.  On Israel, he remarked that they’re an ally, with whom we don’t always see eye to eye, but the alliance serves U.S. purposes and that’s paramount.

As for Jews and Judaism we can but won’t paraphrase.  Vance said:

“Now you ask about, you know, sort of Jews disagreeing with Christians on certain religious ideas.  Yeah, absolutely.  It’s one of the realities is that Jews do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.  Obviously, Christians do believe that.  There are some significant theological disagreements between Christians and Jews.  My attitude is: “Let’s have those conversations. . .”

Also, important and instructive was JD’s response to another onward Christian soldier’s question – this one about Usha Vance’s Hindu faith, to which Vance responded that he hoped she’d convert but if not, his response suggests that he won’t kick her out of the marital bed.

I’ve said that current GOP set plays are the perfection of beta versions tested during the Reagan years.  But Trump deserves full credit for attacking what once was off-limits, the marital relationship and his opponent’s spouse.

Trump called Heidi Cruz a dog on national T.V. and Ted Cruz soon after endorsed Trump.  Vance merely took the next logical step, dissing his own wife’s religion and her religious beliefs.  That’s their problem, Trump’s, Vance’s, Cruz’s,[3] their wives’ and the 93% of Republicans who back them regardless and reflexively.  Our problem is that the GOP’s presumptive 2028 nominee and Yale Law grad, ignores the very first phrase of the very first amendment.

Similar to the conversion of his wife, he hopes for establishment of a Christian nation in what once was ours.  Vance wants that to happen with more than hope, but with the power of the “unitary executive” which as this administration has interpreted it, not only makes Article II into a monarchy but substantially reduces the checks that Articles I and III were designed to impose on the executive.

2026 will not be the last chance, or even the next chance, to do something about the subjects of this piece.  But it is very important for the midterms to clearly and resoundingly reject what Trump has done, what Vance hopes to do and what Rep Higgins believes about hungry Americans.

[1]   Lucinda Williams.

[2]  Oxford town, Oxford town, Everybody’s got their heads bowed down, Sun don’t shine above the ground, Ain’t a-goin’ down to Oxford town.  Guns and clubs followed him down, All because his face was brown, Better get away from Oxford town.  Oxford town around the bend, Come to the door he couldn’t get in, All because of the color of his skin, What do you think about that, my friend? Me, my gal, and my gal’s son, We got met with a tear gas bomb, Don’t even know why we come, We’re goin’ back where we came from.  Oxford town in the afternoon, Everybody’s singin’ a sorrowful tune Two men died ‘neath the Mississippi moon, Somebody better investigate soon. Oxford Town by Bob Dylan, December 6, 1962.

[3]  Recently, it is important to note that Cruz has distanced himself and forcefully criticized some of the worst in Trumpism and its base.  And it appears to be neither token nor expedient at this moment.  Though potentially wise, if he enters the 2028 sweepstakes that right now has only Vance and Rubio in the running.  Last week, while Vance was coddling the stammering antisemite in Oxford, Cruz was candidly speaking out against the upsurge of antisemitism, Holocaust denial and Nazi fandom on the Christian right, as he also had done recently in a megachurch in San Antonio.  He also was the highest-ranking R to condemn the Trump FCC’s assault on Jimmy Kimmel and the first amendment.