I read Ari Ioannides’ recent column “The Porcupine Quill: How Republicans are like a porcupine.” I would like to address each of his assertions.
He claims that Republicans don’t hate immigrants but do oppose the chaotic situation at the southern border. I would think that nearly everyone across the political spectrum is very concerned about immigration.
However, it is hard to claim Republicans don’t harbor ill will against immigrants when the party standard bearer (Trump) has consistently made false and potentially dangerous statements targeting this group throughout his political career.
Trump launched his first presidential campaign in 2015 by stating that Mexico was “not sending the best people.” He also appropriated language directly from Adolf Hitler when he stated in 2023 that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
During the 2024 presidential campaign he falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating people’s pets, specifically dogs and cats.
Ioannides cites four examples of diversity in the Republican Party: Nikki Haley, Condoleezza Rice, Tim Scott, and Richard Grenell. During the 2024 presidential primaries, Nikki Haley repeatedly said both Donald Trump and Joe Biden were too old to be president and called for them to both take mental competency tests. Trump in turn called Haley a “bird brain” and minimized her husband’s military service. He later very publicly excluded her from having any role in his administration even after she eventually endorsed him for president.
Condoleezza Rice has warned repeatedly of the dangers of the United States becoming isolated and relinquishing its international role as the foremost defender of democracy. She also steadfastly endorsed support for Ukraine, which Trump appears to be ready to abandon. It is notable she has not been asked to fill any role in either of Trump’s terms.
Tim Scott is the only African American Republican U.S senator, which alone speaks volumes about GOP diversity. He is mostly known for his enthusiastic and self-serving support of Trump after his own 2024 campaign for president failed spectacularly.
I assume Ioannides included Grenell in this group as he is white but openly gay. He once stated that Trump is the most pro-gay president in American history. The Washington Post fact checker gave this claim “four Pinocchios” and labeled the claim as absurd.
In the few weeks since Trump took office he has issued four executive orders targeting specific groups within the LBGTQ community.
Mr. Ioannides claims that Republicans are falsely accused of wanting to rape the environment. Perhaps my definition of rape and Mr. Ioannides understanding is fundamentally different.
Nonetheless, President Trump has made it well known that he intends to grant offshore oil leases and explore mineral extraction in our national parks and forests. During his first term he drastically reduced the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments and is likely to do it again after President Biden restored the two monuments to their original size.
Trump has once again pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement, an international climate change treaty. We thus become one of only four countries that have not formally joined this agreement, the other three being Iran, Yemen and Libya.
In an executive order Jan. 20 (Trump’s first day in office), the president informed the United Nations of the “United States’ withdrawal from any agreement, pact, accord or similar commitment made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.” Trump has called climate change “a Chinese hoax,” which should horrify all Utahns witnessing the dismal winter snowfall this winter.
It’s not just Trump, either. The state of Utah, in which Republicans enjoy a supermajority Legislature, attempted to sue the federal government to gain control of 18.5 million acres of land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management.
This land belongs to all Americans, as does all federal land including our national parks. Utah hoped to develop the land and allow resource extraction if the lawsuit had succeeded. However, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
So, Mr. Ioannides, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck! I don’t doubt there are many who call themselves Republican that don’t wholeheartedly agree with these extreme statements and policies.
However, while your national and state leadership personify the very stereotypes you deny, it becomes extremely difficult to counter these perceptions.
Vincent A. (Van) Novack
Park City