In a functioning democratic system and healthy political culture, anyone uttering such deranged nonsense would be shunned and ostracized, a party elevating them would not be considered a viable option by anyone but an extremist fringe.
The U.S., however, evidently has neither. 1/
https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1646957717519466496?s=46&t=1xecvNVImNo8TKt3oEvqnA
The Recount on Twitter
“Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), addressing the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum, says her nearly 2-year-old granddaughter “already has a shotgun, and she already has a rifle.””
Whatever the actual circumstances under which Noem’s granddaughter grows up, and whether or not the governor of South Dakota actually thinks toddlers should play around with guns, the key problem is that in the Republican Party, she benefits from saying such things. 2/
How much of what Noem and other Republican elected officials, who are worshipping at the altar of the gun, are doing is “sincere,” how much is opportunism? The answer is never either/or: It’s both, ideology and opportunism reinforcing each other in specific ways. 3/
Thomas Zimmer
Matt