It’s the end of what was supposed to be a “pivotal week” in which Tudor Dixon “prove[d] them all wrong,” but all she did was show Michiganders there aren’t enough conspiracy theories in the world to distract from her dangerous agenda. But the Republican Governors Association swooped in with a seven-figure ad buy to pick up her slack. There are 24 days until polls close. Here’s what happened over the last seven.
Debate 1 of 2
If folks tuned in Thursday night for the hopes of understanding what Tudor Dixon would do to protect abortion access, attract jobs to Michigan, keep fixing our roads and bridges, fund law enforcement, and ensure safe communities, perhaps they’ll have better luck at the next debate scheduled for October 25th. As Governor Whitmer said, the DeVos sellout and special interest Republican was “long on rhetoric and short on facts.”
With a completely straight face, she told viewers she never “wanted to criminalize people” for seeking or providing an abortion. Fact: she called the 1931 abortion ban that would do just that “a good law.” In response to a question asking what she would do to reduce gun violence in schools, Dixon went on a tangent about permitless carry and prisons not being full enough.
On the question of job creation, Dixon – who Governor Whitmer warned would put the “second amendment over second graders every time” – had nothing to stand on besides kneejerk hyperpartisan rhetoric that was sandwiched between Whitmer’s hefty list of wins secured for our workers, auto industry, and economy at large. But what else would you expect from someone traversing the state in an out-of-state, non-union vehicle? Dixon also had no direct response to Whitmer exposing her for being in lockstep with Betsy DeVos’ crusade to “take half a billion dollars out of our public schools.”
WDIV’s Devin Scillian summed it up best: “In particular, I’m still waiting for Dixon to outline exactly what she would have done in the early stages of the COVID pandemic. […] When Dixon said she’d follow the will of the people on abortion, Whitmer was ready by pointing out Dixon’s inability to accept the will of the people in the 2020 election. […] Dixon would no doubt prefer the election be fought on that turf [of inflation and the economy]. But here again, I’m a little lost on what her exact proposals are.”
Get in line, Devin!
Special Interest Update
The RGA kicked off their $3.6 million ad buy this week. Dixon has been dependent on her special interest backers to do her campaign and confirmed as much when her first words on the debate stage were, “For many of you, it’s the first time you’re hearing from me directly.”
As we pointed out when it dropped, the ad completely ignores Governor Whitmer’s historic investments in our infrastructure, the steps she’s taken to restore Michigan’s place as the hub of the auto industry, and her pandemic response that was proven to have saved thousands of lives. It also neglects to mention that Dixon is an untested conspiracy theorist who continues to back a disastrous budget plan that would kneecap critical services like infrastructure and law enforcement, wants to decimate public education, has railed against job creation, and ran her steel foundry into the ground.
Arizona Governor and RGA co-chair Doug Ducey signaled during a Dixon campaign event yesterday that his organization will be ponying up even more over these last 24 days, likely to make up for a glaring lack of investment from her own campaign.
Tudor Dixon’s “Fringe Characters” and Conspiracy Theories Bully Pulpit
A recent deep dive from The Daily Beast broke down her years as a host on far right-wing and Steve Bannon-headlining media outlet Real America’s Voice along with the extreme views she platformed “for a parade of fringe characters” and their conspiracy theories.
As expected, Dixon’s guests were unhinged to the highest degree, airing “conspiratorial and violent rhetoric,” disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, baseless lies about the 2020 election, promote QAnon, and downplay the January 6th insurrection on the U.S. capital that killed five and injured 140 officers.
To call Dixon a host during these segments would be generous, considering ones worth their salt would immediately push back on any of the baseless lies made on her show. But of course, she never did. Instead she often chimed in with responses of her own. During a segment with a conservative activist who penned an essay titled “We Are All Proud Boys,” Dixon stressed that “folks like you…have to get involved in government…so that we can get back the country that we’re losing so quickly.”
All the Single (Working and Lonely) (???) Ladies
“We don’t have support for families…unless they look exactly the way she wants… Single women working. That’s like [Governor Whitmer’s] dream… Last time I checked, that’s a pretty lonely life.”
No one needs us to tell them this quote made by Tudor Dixon yesterday is out-of-touch and harmful to women. Not much more can be expected from the politician who wants to force pregnancy on child sexual assault victims.
