It’s essential to know that Dan Cox — i.e., Republican Delegate Daniel L. Cox, a quintessential right-wing extremist and the GOP’s nominee to be governor of Maryland—is endorsed by Donald Trump and proud of it.
And it’s also important to know that ever since Cox’s primary victory in July, he’s backpedaled away from his long record as an extremist. He’s repudiated previous positions, rewritten his web page, and is straining to present himself as a moderate Republican. He’s even downplaying his Trump endorsement.
Cox now denies that in January 2021, he tweeted that Vice President Pence is a “traitor”; this tweet, however, has been thoroughly verified. His campaign website no longer boasts that he fought to prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election results. Or that Cox hired three buses to haul Trump supporters into D.C. to attack the Capitol on January 6.
The Washington Post reports that his web site has been scrubbed of “references to ‘a natural right’ to gun ownership and promises to ban transgender athletes in women’s sports and conduct an audit of the 2020 presidential election, which he has called ‘stolen.’”
Also, according to the Post, Cox has closed his account on the Gab social media platform and — tellingly — removed his approximately 1,000 posts from that site. Gab is associated with hate speech, racists, and white nationalists, ad nauseam.
Don’t be fooled by this middle-of-the-campaign flimflammery! Despite Candidate Cox’s reposturing, repositioning, restating, and rejiggering, the GOP’s gubernatorial hopeful remains — simply put — an authentic right-wing extremist. Cox can modify his malice as much as he likes, but it would be naive to think he’ll change his mind about anything.
Every Maryland voter urgently needs to understand that Candidate Cox:
- Denies that President Biden won the 2020 election and continues to parrot Trump’s baseless claims of voting fraud.
- Is solidly opposed to reproductive rights for women.
- Yearns to repeal Maryland’s sensible firearms-safety laws and make guns more available.
- Would outlaw most future pandemic-related public health measures.
- Supports extremist “Moms 4 Liberty”-type takeovers of local school boards.
- Avoids reporters’ requests for interviews and comments.
- Sees his candidacy as “a campaign between freedom and a socialist-communist politics” and swears that his opponent, Democrat Wes Moore, is a communist or a socialist.
- Extols his running mate, Gordana Schifanelli, another extremist with her own right-wing agenda and baggage.
- Insists that the Biden administration is “out-of-control” and “tyrannical.”
Even Maryland’s conservative incumbent governor, Republican Larry Hogan, has labeled Cox “a QAnon whack job” and is doing nothing to support his candidacy. Hogan says, “Cox is not, in my opinion, mentally stable. He wanted to hang my friend, Mike Pence, and took three busloads of people to the Capitol.”
If the prospect of a Trump clone as Maryland’s next governor horrifies you — as it should! — vote for Democrat Wes Moore and his running mate, Aruna Miller.
Gren Whitman
Rock Hall
Notes:
People Magazine
Maryland Matters
Frederick News-Post
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/24/gab-dan-cox-maryland-governor/
Liz Soiree says
If it walks like a duck and quacks like one; assuredly, it is not a giraffe!