In an advertisement posted on July 5th, 2022, the Republican nominee for Senate and current Missouri Attorney General, Eric Schmitt, claimed that he was “taking a blowtorch to Biden’s socialist agenda.” Schmitt made multiple claims regarding his work as Missouri AG that deserve review.
Claim: Biden has a socialist agenda
Fact: Historically, the GOP has often used the term “socialist” to attack Democrats and discredit their policies. Joe Biden directly discredited this claim in a press conference by delineating that he was not a socialist. In fact, he even stated that he “beat the socialist. Amy Sherman, writing for PolitiFact, analyzed Biden’s policies in congruence with the basic tenets of socialism. Socialism refers to a “complete government ownership of production.” While Biden’s economic plan includes regulations and improvements to policy, none of his plans include nationalization of industry, healthcare, or infrastructure leaving his policies far from socialist.
Claim: As Attorney General, Schmitt put a stop to Biden’s border policy
Fact: While it is true that Schmitt sued the Biden administration for its cancellation of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) or “Remain in Mexico” policy, the lawsuit was ultimately ineffective as the Biden Administration ended the MPP in 2022. In 2021, a federal court in Northern Texas ruled with Schmitt and stated that the Biden administration could not cancel the MPP. However, in June of 2022, the US Supreme Court reversed this ruling and stated that the Biden Administration could end the MPP. A month later, the Department of Homeland Security ended the Trump-era policy. Schmitt’s lawsuit did not instill any long-term changes to Biden’s border policy.
Claim: Schmitt stood with President Trump to stop election fraud
Fact: While Schmitt made statements that agreed with Trump’s claims of election fraud in 2020, there is a substantial amount of evidence that election fraud did not change the results of that election. Rumors of election fraud began before the election even occurred. As COVID-19 shutdowns encouraged states to implement mail-in voting systems, Trump used this as an opportunity to create concerns regarding the legitimacy of the 2020 election. Impressions of voter fraud were further advanced by other members of the GOP because it formed political unity among Republican primary voters and because it led to a Trump endorsement. An analysis of the 2020 election by Philip Bump of The Washington Post refutes each of the various rumors of election fraud advanced by the GOP. Based on his analysis, “there’s been no evidence of any large-scale efforts to steal votes.”
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