First District congressional candidate Heather Mizeur (D) rebuked incumbent Rep. Andy Harris (R) on Friday for speaking to a conservative conference taking place in Hungary. In a statement, she accused him of being an embarrassment and a “failed” representative who clings to “radical” views.
CPAC Hungary, a three-day event in Budapest, features Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán and Fox talk show host Tucker Carlson, both of whom have embraced race-conscious immigration and abortion policies that are gaining traction on the right.
Harris criticized abortion-rights supporters during his speech but he made no mention of “replacement theory,” which holds, among other things, that more restrictive abortion laws would help the U.S. replenish its supply of white babies.
The six-term lawmaker, the only Republican in Maryland’s congressional delegation, did warn of the threats posed by “woke political correctness,” Marxism and socialism.
“History has taught our countries that these ideologies have failed in every age and destroyed every nation that they have entered,” he said. “Our countries are each engaged in a renewed fight to remove these corrosive elements from our way of life, our classrooms, corporate boardrooms, entertainment events and even the media.”
Harris said that children are “coming under increasing attack by left-leaning educational and political indoctrination,” and he applauded Hungary for “strategically” avoiding war, inflation and “cultural, moral and even intellectual decline.”
Harris’ six-minute speech, which included a heavy-metal guitar track, was delivered remotely. The lawmaker is co-chair of the Hungarian-American Congressional Caucus.
Although journalists were denied entry to the conference, the gathering generated headlines when CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp appeared to embrace the idea that immigration threatens to “replace” white people in the U.S.
“If you say there is a population problem in a country, but you’re killing millions of your own people through legalized abortion every year, if that were to be reduced, some of that problem is solved,” Schlapp said, according to vice.com. “You have millions of people who can take many of these jobs. How come no one brings that up? If you’re worried about this quote-unquote replacement, why don’t we start there? Start with allowing our own people to live.”
Orban has emerged as a hero to many American conservatives, who have been exposed to him largely through Carlson. A recent New York Times analysis concluded that Carlson’s show “may be the most racist show in the history of cable news — and also, by some measures, the most successful.”
Several other Republican figures are speaking at the conference, including other members of Congress, and Mark Meadows, President Trump’s last chief of staff.
In her statement, Mizeur sought to tie Harris to Orban, calling him “Harris’s political idol.” She also sought to tie the Harris to the massacre at a Western New York supermarket, noting that Carlson’s show “was cited by the killer who opened fired in a supermarket in a predominantly black area in Buffalo last week.”
Two calls to Harris’s new spokeswoman, Anna Adamian, were not returned as of Friday afternoon.
Mizeur and David Harden are competing in the July 19 Democratic primary for the right to run against Harris in November.
“Andy Harris is a dangerous extremist. His votes are not within the mainstream views of the First District. He is radical and hypocritical,” Mizeur concluded. “He claims to support Ukraine but is speaking today in Hungary with Tucker Carlson to lavish praise on Putin’s greatest European ally. None of this is acceptable.”
Gren Whitman says
Rep. Andrew P. Harris (R-Qanon) is an extremist right-winger.
So, why shouldn’t he travel to Hungary to hobnob with Viktor Orban, another rabid right-winger?
And why shouldn’t he rub shoulders with noted racist Tucker Carlson?
And why shouldn’t he pal around with CPAC, a far-right group that embraces “replacement theory”?
After all, birds of a feather flock together.
The bigger question is: Why do otherwise sensible voters in Maryland’s First District keep sending Harris back to Congress despite his neo-Nazi tendencies and his miserable voting record?
Stephen Schaare says
Gren, What is “(R-Qanon)”. Thank you-Steve
Gren Whitman says
Any Republican representing the Q-Anon—or bizarre—faction of the GOP can be labeled “R-Qanon.” Harris has amply proved he’s bizarre, starting with his refusal to retire after six terms as he promised early on. A member of the extreme right House Freedom Caucus, Harris voted on Jan. 6, 2021, against certifying the 2020 presidential election results from Arizona and Pennsylvania. He voted against honoring Capitol police officers because the word “insurrection” was in the bill. He was nabbed packing a handgun in the Capitol.
Deirdre LaMotte says
Because this district is full of people who are racist, only vote GOP for tax and regulation issues (ie, pollution and Climate Change do not exist) or a combination of both. They are abhorrent.
Vote blue down the ballot or our rights are history.
Don E. Ital says
“Extreme right”, anyone 1/4″ to the right of Atilla The Hun…
Signed, The Abhorrent Racist (nee Deplorable)
John Ames says
I wish that after every mass shooting the Spy, and other media, would ask Dr. Harris for a comment. It is likely that he would say the same inanities and unconstitutional excuses that he has said many times before, but I think he should be forced to say them again.
DEIRDRE LAMOTTE says
Agree. I believe the media should show unredacted photos of mass shooting victims because the politicians
continue to gas-light the public with teddy bears, prayers and crocodile tears. If politicians waxing poetically
about “constitutional principles” while sharing a split screen with a murdered fourth graders, maybe change would be forced upon them.
And no, this would not retraumatize families. That has already happened.