Populism Inc. Candidate Catalina Lauf Says “We’re a Nation of Legal Immigrants,” Asks Joshua Foxworth If Her Eating Black Beans “Triggers” Him
Evan James
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Two self-described America First candidates, one who ran in 2020 and another who’s running in 2022, got into a brief Twitter spat over immigration, thus revealing who’s actually America First and who belongs to Populism Inc.
Political activist Scott Pressler had posted a tweet on March 28 that said, “You’re going to see Republicans talk tough on immigration & the border, but the truth is—even if we win back the House/Senate—we won’t be able to pass any reform w/ the current leadership. That’s why I’m working to primary Adam Kinzinger & Liz Cheney. Vote in primaries.”
Now Adam Kinzinger, if you recall, is the anti-Trump GOP House member from Illinois who was widely lauded by the mainstream media for his hostility to Trump following the January 6 Capitol incident and who voted to impeach the former president (“frankly, an easy decision“). He is facing a primary challenge in 2022 from a woman named Catalina Lauf, who’s running as a pro-Trump America First populist. Pressler is ostensibly working with Lauf to unseat Kinzinger.
Getting rid of Kinzinger is all well and good, but Lauf has been met with skepticism and suspicion by many in the America First wing of conservative politics. In her Twitter campaign announcement last month, she described herself as a “daughter of LEGAL immigrants.” The Republican Party values she upholds are “free enterprise, our God-given individual liberties, and law and order.” In other words, she’s appropriating the term “America First” while actually running as a garden-variety Republican.
Lauf is only 26 years old and she’s billing herself as the “anti-AOC.” Her announcement video is also slick and very well done. Not that that’s bad in itself, but it’s indicative of someone who may not be entirely grassroots. In 2020 Lauf ran in the Republican primary for Illinois’ 14th District race, finished in third, and announced her 2022 candidacy in the 16th District on a single issue (impeachment) just one month after Trump left office. She is propped up by Populism Inc. and is not a meaningful America First candidate.
Joshua Foxworth, an authentically America First candidate for US House (TX-14) in 2020, has thus chosen to support IL-16 candidate Jack Lombardi and has criticized Lauf for her Populism Inc. backing and lack of a platform. Here’s what he had to say in response to Pressler’s tweet above:
This tweet came on Lauf’s radar the next day and she responded as follows: “We’re a nation of legal immigrants & just like Germans, Italians, Greeks, etc. I’m proud of who I am & where my family came from. Just ate Guatemalan-style black beans for breakfast, does that trigger you?“
To which Foxworth replied: “This nation’s founders were settlers, not immigrants. They came to a wilderness and created America from nothing. And how do you show your ‘pride’ in their accomplishments? Reduce what they did to nothing less than coming here on a work Visa and talk of beans. This should be a serious discussion about the most important topic in US politics. Using phrases like ‘does that trigger you’ is childish beyond words and unbecoming of my ancestors and the office that they created and you are seeking.”
Foxworth also challenged Lauf to a live discussion on immigration, health care, and student debt, among other issues. It’s almost certain, however, that she will not accept.
It’s clear from all this that the easy way to separate the America First wheat from the chaff is to ask them their position on legal immigration, not just illegal immigration. If they toss out the “we’re a nation of (legal) immigrants” trope, you can be certain that they’re not America First. Don’t be deceived by the schemes of Populism Inc.
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