Rep. Mary Miller called national leader in ‘incendiary rhetoric’ fueling ‘polarization’

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The Illinois elected official who is former President Donald Trump’s most ardent Illinois supporter — Rep Mary Miller, R-Ill., — is, based on her tweets, one of the most polarizing figures in Congress, according to a new New York Times study.

The study, printed in Sunday’s New York Times, “found that in the current Congress, representatives who fought certifying the election used polarizing language on Twitter about 55 percent more often than other Republicans, and nearly triple the rate of Democrats.”

Miller, a freshman, defeated Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., in the June 28 Illinois primary, with Miller heavily leveraging the Trump endorsement she got near the beginning of her campaign for a second term. She is all but certain to win reelection in November in her heavily Republican downstate district.

The New York Times, in its study of the rhetoric used by members of Congress, analyzed nearly 3 million tweets, more than 100,000 email newsletters, 300,000 Facebook ads and 350,000 statements from the Congressional Record, using language software.

Miller’s rhetoric was featured in the lead of the analysis about how “incendiary rhetoric fuels polarization.”

Miller, whose 15th Congressional District is in Southern and Central Illinois, was one of the members of Congress who voted against certifying Joe Biden as president on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Ms Miller’s inflammatory words underscore the extent to which polarizing rhetoric is now entrenched among Republicans in the House of Representatives, especially among those like Ms. Miller, who voted against certifying the Biden victory, according to an examination by the New York Times of partisan language over the past 10 years.”

Though Miller declined to be interviewed for the story, she said in a Sunday tweet, “The fake news ‘New York Times’ is attacking me for talking about my Christian faith as a member of Congress. I will NEVER cave to these radical leftists who want to destroy people of faith & tear down the nuclear family, two cornerstones of the American way of life!”

Rep. Liz Cheney visiting Chicago Monday

And as a counterpoint to Miller, an election denier, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, a Trump target because she is one of the 10 Republicans to vote to impeach him — and vice chair of the House Jan. 6 committee probing the attack on the Capitol and the events surrounding Trump’s bid to overturn the election results — will be in Chicago Monday for an event at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics.

On Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Cheney was asked, “Is your No. 1 issue threats to democracy, as a voter?”

“It is. I think that when you look at the extent to which we’re facing challenges now that threaten to unravel the fundamental institutions and structures of our election system and process, that is the basis and the foundation on which we can have all of these other debates. So it absolutely is the No. 1. issue.”

Said Cheney, “And I think no one of any party should be voting for people who are election deniers.”

Potential Lightfoot challenger gets $1 million pledge from national teachers union

On Saturday I reported that Chicago mayoral petitions are being circulated for Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, D-Ill., as he ponders a 2023 City Hall bid.

On Sunday, the American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten announced that the union was going to donate $1 million to the campaign war chest of Brandon Johnson, a paid Chicago Teachers Union organizer and Cook County Board member on the November ballot seeking another term. Johnson, while exploring a mayoral run, had already been endorsed for mayor by the Chicago Teachers Union — not waiting for Garcia, usually an ally, to make up his mind.