On Christmas Eve, Radical Right Republican Texas Governor, Gregg Abbott, dropped off another 50 migrants in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence. Meidas Contributor Texas Paul reacts to the MAGA Republican Disgusting act.
“When I was doxxed, someone from Ron DeSantis’s team called me. She said, ‘The governor wanted me to give you a message. If you don’t feel safe, if you need a place to go, to hide, to stay, you can come to the governor’s mansion.’
“She said, ‘We have a guest house for you, and you can stay as long as you need. I was almost in tears. He took time out of his extremely busy schedule to send someone to call me to make sure I’m safe.
“It was incredible, I don’t even have the words for it.” – Chaya Raichik, creator of the Twitter account LibsOfTikTok.
Raichik began posting content denigrating liberals on her personal social media accounts around April of 2020, but rebranded as Libs of TikTok a year later.
Raichik started by poking fun at Anthony Fauci, the country’s chief medical advisor at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Then she started spouting hate toward Black victims of police violence before repeatedly depicting queer and trans people as predators who endangered children.
Yesterday Raichik described LGBTQ people as members of an “evil cult” dedicated to grooming children.
Her so-called doxxing was merely being named by the Washington Post as the person behind the account that has incited violent and often armed extremists to protest outside of LGBTQ events.
It’s likely that the DeSantis flack who reached out to her was the viciously anti-LGBTQ Christina Pushaw, who was his spokesperson at the time.
When you have a Supreme Court that has made it clear it’s okay to declare open season on LGBT people, this is the result.
In less then 5 hours after the Tucker interview they were able to identify Chaya Raichik's (LibsOfTikTok) face & attire while on the Capital Grounds on Jan 6th.pic.twitter.com/4o5sc4bpj9
I would add that the WaPo article identified her using publicly available information.
It’s really something, the way social media has helped make psychopaths and grifters more successful than they ever could have been in any previous era.
On WHAT does this evil bitch BASE anything she says but her own vile bigotry?! What gives her ANY authority or credibility to speak on ANY issue, let alone to slander, denounce, and DEMONIZE whole groups of people based on NOTHING but LIES and her malicious FEELINGS?! Why do the serious media refuse, in their role as the “Guardians of Democracy,” to call out and DENOUNCE the right-wing media for spreading hate propaganda, for indulging in stochastic terrorism?! Because that’s ALL this is, and it has NO PLACE in ANY forum that gives it wide exposure in a modern democratic society!
It belongs nowhere but the GUTTER PRESS, which all decent people and all true journalists regard with nothing but CONTEMPT! There is no difference between THIS and giving wide exposure to spokesmen from the KKK or the American Nazi Party! This is the same kind of rabid, dehumanizing defamation the Nazis engaged in against the Jews under Hitler. Those engaged in it and in enabling it, in helping it spread its POISON, should be DENOUNCED by every true journalist in this country, by everyone who holds the truth and the principles of genuine democracy dear! That it is NOT denounced, and roundly, is a clear sign of advanced decadence, of societal ROT!
I never thought after the gains we’ve made in civil rights that we would slide backward so fast and without anything being done to these thugs. Find the shit on this bitch and all the other ones who would give her a voice.
Then she started spouting hate toward Black victims of police violence before repeatedly depicting queer and trans people as predators who endangered children.
Yesterday Raichik described LGBTQ people as members of an “evil cult” dedicated to grooming children.
Did she complain about the fact that DeSantis’s state party is full of open neonazis? As in, not just fascists, but Holocaust deniers. No? Didn’t think so.
You know, I grew up never trusting authority figures… including anyone involved in politics. And throughout the years, I’ve tried to mellow my views on that. But, boy-o-boy, I never thought we’d see elected officials sink this fucking low. I mean, it was one thing when they just completely ignored the AIDS crisis, but now elected Republicans are openly, gleefully, and without any blowback, ginning up maniacs to go out and murder us. And the elected officials on the left just kinda go, “Man, this awful. I’ll write a strongly worded kumbaya tweet about this, and that’ll be my due diligence.”
The Fort Lauderdale show at the Broward Center was the first of four performances around the state.
The 2022 Florida debut of “A Drag Queen Christmas” in Fort Lauderdale has triggered a state investigation, according to a tweet from the account of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Press Secretary.
The show went on in Miami’s James L. Knight Center Tuesday night — with limited tickets still available — and was scheduled to hit the heights in Orlando and Clearwater for successive nights. But it might be coming to the attention of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, according to a statement from the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR).
DBPR “is aware of multiple complaints about a sexually explicit performance marketed to children held in Fort Lauderdale on December 26. The Department is actively investigating this matter, including video footage and photographs from the event,” said the statement that Bryan Griffin tweeted.
“Exposing children to sexually explicit activity is a crime in Florida, and such action violates the Department’s licensing standards for operating a business and holding a liquor license.”
According to the traveling production’s website, Dragfans.com, the show has been going on for eight years. And, on the site’s “Past Tours” page, the show has made stops in Florida for five different Christmases, according to the posters displayed there.
The production company says that “all ages” are welcome at its shows, as does the website advertising the Orlando show. But the site listing all the tour stops does say potential patrons might be barred depending on local regulations.
Miami’s show, for example, is advertised with the caveat, “Adult content. Recommended for audiences — 18+. Minors must be accompanied by an adult.” In Clearwater, it says that only those older than 18 will be admitted to Ruth Eckerd Hall for the performance.
Critics of the show tweeted videos showing a full house in the Broward Center for the Performing Arts Monday night. And the Dec. 22 event in Knoxville, Tennessee, was sold out, according to Tennessee state Rep. Gloria Johnson’s Twitter account.
The controversy is reminiscent of a July complaint about a drag queen brunch put on at R House Wynwood after a video surfaced showing a toddler dancing with a drag queen. Statements from Gov. Ron DeSantis indicated the venue’s liquor license was at risk for the same issue.
The current status of the investigation was unavailable Tuesday, but the restaurant’s website seems to indicate that the drag brunch is still happening Saturday and Sunday with four seatings.
In July, DeSantis said his criticism of the drag brunch’s entertainment is part of his fight for Florida to be “where kids can be kids.” That includes efforts to pass the Parental Rights in Education law, which more closely regulates schoolhouse discussions.
Starting its four-night Florida tour, 'A Drag Queen Christmas' triggers state investigation
These parents in Broward county while trying to be tolerant are actually guilty of child abuse. This tour is pedophile based. Florida Gov. DeSantis's office to investigate drag show event for exposing children to inappropriate contenthttps://t.co/TnJnqxTtXJ
you saw this drag show was happening you bought tickets for the day after christmas you sat through act one you sat through intermission you sat partway through act two just to get banned from ever attending the broward center again
Wow Nelson gets shamed by audience, loses his shit & runs out of the venue by a herd of cops – trespassed & threatened with jail what a spectacular FAIL!
He’s always breathing so hard it sounds like he’s about to stroke out from adderal abuse pic.twitter.com/4NVEKZfcWb
Not only was the out of control Chris Nelson trespassed from @browardcenter for screaming during the show – he was seen by police as the instigator for street violence as he attempted to grab peoples masks & cameras pic.twitter.com/rMzY4RmS60
Chris Nelson, the far-right nationalist who leads protests outside drag shows ranting about “grooming” & “sexualization of kids” is shown here at his wedding with anti-masker Nicole Struelens — head up her skirt while a child looks on in the background.
With these haters / bigots lying and making things up along with projection is the standard way they do stuff. They claim the other side is promoting violence while they get the Proud Boys to attack drag queen events. They claim the other side is full of hate while they call the LGBTQ+ evil. Another thing she claims unnamed studies that find parents find they are unable to stop their kids from being trans or non-binary, implying that laws and the left are blocking the wishes of good god loving parents to take care of their kids. The truth is parents cannot stop their kids from being born with a different gender than assigned at birth or being born non-binary but that is how they are when they are born! These people who push the idea that people can be converted to a gender are the same people who support the totally debunked idea of conversion therapy for sexual orientation. Hugs
LibsOfTikTok founder Chaya Raichik has regularly made false and misleading comments about teachers and children’s hospitals. (YouTube)
Libs Of TikTok creator Chaya Raichik has said LGBTQ+ people are “grooming children” and are “evil” in a disturbing Fox News interview.
Raichik, the figure behind the virulently anti-LGBTQ+ Twitter account known for encouraging pile-ons and spreading misinformation, elaborated on her belief that the LGBTQ+ community is a “cult” in an interview with host Tucker Carlson.
In the hour-long interview, Raichik and Carlson discussed her since-debunked claim that certain children’s hospitals were performing hysterectomies on trans teenagers.
Carlson asked Raichik if she had any “theories” about what was going on with “evil” people who offer affirming care to minors.
Raichik replied: “The LGBTQ community has become this cult and it’s so captivating, and it pulls people in so strongly, unlike anything we’ve ever seen.”
She went on to claim LGBTQ+ people “brainwash” others to “join” their movement and that it’s “really, really hard to get out of it”.
Raichik also referred to unnamed “studies” on parents who find they cannot stop their children from being trans or non-binary.
Libs of TikTok has over 1.5 million followers and received several temporary suspensions and a permanent suspension from TikTok. (@libsoftiktok/Twitter)
She said the situation is “unlike anything we’ve ever seen”, adding that it’s “extremely poisonous”.
Carlson asked Raichik if she sees a “spiritual component to any of this”, adding: “I don’t think this makes sense at all.”
“No, it doesn’t make any sense and I think – I think they’re evil,” Raichik replied.
Chaya Raichik went on Tucker Carlson and said the "LGBTQ community has become this cult… It's extremely poisonous." She later says "They're just evil people, and they're out to groom kids. They're recruiting."
“And sometimes we try to break it down a lot and we discuss why this is happening, what’s happening and whatever, and I think sometimes the simplest answer is, they’re just evil.
“They’re bad people. They’re just evil people, and they want to groom kids. They’re recruiting.”
Libs Of TikTok refers to LGBTQ+ people as ‘groomers’
This is far from the first time Raichik has shared anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric; through her Libs Of TikTok social media accounts, she has pushed false and misleading comments about teachers, medical providers and children’s hospitals.
Since the account first came to prominence, Raichik has described people who teach children about gender and sexuality as “groomers”. She has also used her platform to hit out at all-age drag shows.
Her most controversial moment came when she claimed Boston Children’s Hospital was performing hysterectomies on trans minors. In the weeks after she publicised her since-debunked claims, staff faced death threats and the hospital was targeted with two anonymous bomb threats.
Raichik originally tried to keep her identity a secret, but her real name was eventually revealed by the Washington Post.
I would like to point out a couple things from the article. Unsurprisingly, conservatives like the ways things looked in the 18th century a lot more than they do today, so originalism has been a handy way of bending the law rightward. Also there is this part, They include “respect for the authority of rule and of rulers,” “respect for the hierarchies needed for society to function,” and most frighteningly, “a candid willingness to ‘legislate morality’—indeed, a recognition that all legislation is necessarily founded on some substantive conception of morality, and that the promotion of morality is a core and legitimate function of authority.” It is a short informative article describing what the Christian right is willing to do to get to the point that they can tell everyone how to live. Hugs
For an increasingly fervent and authoritarian-minded group, originalism is no longer good enough.
The Federalist Society – the right-wing legal group that Donald Trump made the selection committee for his judicial appointees – has had a lot of success peeling back LGBTQ+ rights by promoting the doctrine of originalism. Originalism tests laws on the principle of whether the nation’s founders intended the Constitution to be interpreted in a particular way. Unsurprisingly, conservatives like the ways things looked in the 18th century a lot more than they do today, so originalism has been a handy way of bending the law rightward.
The apotheosis of originalism was the Supreme Court’s decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. The majority decision included a tour of legal theory about abortion dating back not just to the founding of this country but 13th century England.
However, for an increasingly fervent and authoritarian-minded group, originalism is no longer good enough. They want something more direct. That’s where a new legal theory, “common good constitutionalism,” comes in.
Common good constitutionalism is, in essence, the right wing deciding how to use the law to impose its view of the world on U.S. citizens. Harvard Law Professor Adrian Vermeule, the most prominent advocate for the idea, describes it slightly differently, of course. In a 2020 essay in The Atlantic, he relies heavily upon the “substantive moral principles that conduce to the common good, principles that officials (including, but by no means limited to, judges) should read into the majestic generalities and ambiguities of the written Constitution.”
However, that list of principles is, in many ways, antithetical to what many Americans think of as liberty. They include “respect for the authority of rule and of rulers,” “respect for the hierarchies needed for society to function,” and most frighteningly, “a candid willingness to ‘legislate morality’—indeed, a recognition that all legislation is necessarily founded on some substantive conception of morality, and that the promotion of morality is a core and legitimate function of authority.”
As Politico points out in a profile of the idea, the ramifications are radical: “the Constitution empowers the government to pursue conservative political ends, even when those ends conflict with individual rights as most Americans understand them.”
The theory would allow the right to achieve most of its goals through the courts without worrying about precedent. That includes banning marriage equality outright.
Common good constitutionalism is emerging as a hot idea because some right-wing legal eagles are worried that originalism won’t be good enough to destroy decades of advances enabled by more liberal courts. They want to jumpstart the revolution now, and they need a legal fig leaf to do it.
While the debate may seem academic, the implications are not. It’s especially worrisome that the philosophy is popular among a particular segment of young lawyers, particularly conservative Catholics.
“These are the things that people are talking about in FedSoc chapters all over the place,” one law student from Georgetown Universityt told Politico, using shorthand for the Federalist Society. “I think our generation is a lot more open to it than the older generation.”
What turbocharged the debate about common good constitutionalism was the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County. In that case, the majority ruled that an LGBTQ+ employee cannot be fired under federal civil rights law. That decision sent the right into orbit and provided momentum for a theory that would ensure them victory no matter what the law said.
Whether common good constitutionalism supplants originalism remains to be seen. But the idea that it can impose the society it wants through its own interpretation of “the common good” is a sign of just how far the right has moved toward authoritarianism. One thing is sure: They will never give up their attempt to eliminate LGBTQ+ rights. Marriage equality would just be the first step.
“There’s something so unique about — the LGBTQ community has become this cult and it’s so captivating and it pulls people in so strongly unlike anything we’ve ever seen and they brainwash people to join.
“And they convince them of all these things and it’s really, really hard to get out of it. It’s really difficult.
“I think they’re evil. And sometimes we try to break it down a lot and we discuss why this is happening, what’s happening, whatever, and I think sometimes the simplest answer is they’re just evil.
“They’re bad people. They’re evil people. And they want to groom kids. They’re recruiting.” – Chaya Raichik, owner of LibsOfTikTok, the Twitter account that has spawned violent and armed protests at LGBTQ events.
Chaya Raichik went on Tucker Carlson and said the "LGBTQ community has become this cult… It's extremely poisonous." She later says "They're just evil people, and they're out to groom kids. They're recruiting."
This is 1970's Anita Bryant level bigotry and it's getting promoted by Tucker "Dan White Society" Carlson. These bigots feel so emboldened to spew their hatred openly and incite violence against the LGBTQ community.
I did an in depth thread on the connections between Chaya's tweets and bomb threats. It's not just her but all anti LGBTQ moral panic stories invoke this response now. https://t.co/U4uUS3J5PM
Photo: Shutterstock
