(Washington) A fierce fight against inflation, crime and immigration, and a defense of “freedom”: 45 days before the US legislative elections, the Republican Party presented the program it plans to apply on Friday if he were to seize power in Congress.
Posted at 12:12 p.m.
Gathered in a warehouse in the suburbs of the former industrial stronghold of Pittsburgh, in the northeast of the country, the conservatives unveiled their “Pledge for the United States”, a series of measures which allow the party to define itself differently than in his opposition to the policies of Democratic President Joe Biden.
“We’ve spent the last year and a half — all Republicans in this group — traveling across the country to listen to your problems, to fight what the Democrats have done,” said Kevin McCarthy, who hopes to become the next president of the House of Representatives, following November’s midterm elections.
The choice of this place owes nothing to chance: Pennsylvania, a state known as much for its large urban centers as for its declining industries, probably holds the key to the legislative elections.
“Paying for a full tank of gas”
The Republicans first spent long minutes scouring the record of Joe Biden and a Congress in the hands of the Democrats on inflation, the main angle of attack of the conservatives for months.
“As we traveled the country, from people’s dining rooms to factories, we heard the same problem,” said Republican leader Kevin McCarthy. “How can I afford my full tank of gas? My food, my milk? “, he listed.
The Conservatives also promised “energy made in the USA”, without making any mention of climate change.
Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi denounced the program as “further evidence of House Republicans’ unwavering commitment to Trumpism.”
Immigration and opiates
Friday’s event often took the form of a sort of informal chat with members of the public, all of whom were highly critical of Joe Biden’s nearly two years in office.
Before this assembly, the Republicans also dwelt at length on immigration, an explosive subject in the United States, which is even more so a few weeks before the elections. The opposition accuses the Democrats of having turned the border with Mexico into a sieve.
On this subject, the “Grand Old Party” gave the floor to a local sheriff, James Custer, listing the number of fentanyl overdoses in his county. “These overdoses are directly linked to the fact that our border to the south is open,” he denounced, these opiates very often coming from Mexico.
Transgender athletes
Republicans have also promised the United States a “future based on freedom”, focusing mainly on the country’s schools, theaters in recent years of fiery debates on confinement, the wearing of masks, anti-COVID-19 vaccination. or teaching racism.
The assembly then heard the testimony of a mother, extremely frustrated that her children were unable to participate “in the end-of-year celebrations, in the sports banquets” during the pandemic.
“Parents have a say in the education of their children,” pleaded Kevin McCarthy.
The Conservatives also plan to continue their offensive against transgender athletes by ensuring that “only women [cisgenres] can participate in women’s sports competitions.
A way to mobilize their electorate on a new social issue, after years of fighting against abortion. Since the Supreme Court decision that blasted the constitutional right to abortion in the United States in June, conservatives have been much more discreet on this issue, aware that positions that are too extreme could cost them dearly at the ballot box.