Hawaiian Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono stated that the time has come for "a call to arms" to fight the pro-life movement. The senator stated this on Wednesday on the Senate floor during Republican Senator Lindsey Graham's proposal to ban abortions after 15 weeks gestation. The bill includes several exceptions -such as rape, incest or danger to the life of the pregnant woman- but that only made the Democratic senator intensify the warmongering rhetoric in the mid-term elections.
Sen. @maziehirono: Fighting the pro-life movement "is literally a call to arms in our country." pic.twitter.com/JCtAwMpzE1
- Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 14, 2022
Mazie Hirono, along with other Democratic senators, opposed the legislation for, in their opinion, pushing an "extreme Republican MAGA" agenda. Her comments provoked strong backlash as they came in the midst of a wave of attacks against pregnancy clinics and pro-life organizations. The attacks have intensified following the Supreme Court's ruling overturning Roe vs. Wade with no arrests reported so far. Some analysts condemned the Democratic senator's words as a call to continue these attacks.
After many crisis pregnancy centers have been firebombed by Democrats, crazy Mazie Hirono calls for more pro-abortion violence https://t.co/Jq3giaNUxi
- Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) September 14, 2022
"Killing" MAGA
Senator Hirono's remarks came shortly after Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Tim Ryan said his party needs to "kill and confront" what he called an extremist Republican movement. On MSNBC's Morning Joe, Ryan discussed the bipartisan collaboration noting the following:
Some of those answers will come from Republicans, not the extremists that we deal with every day. We have to kill and confront that movement, but working with the normal mainstream Republicans, that's going to be very, very important.
Tim Ryan's words refer to Make America Great Again (MAGA) led by Donald Trump. The former president won more than 3 million votes in Ohio in 2020, the state where Ryan is running for election. Now the candidate wants to confront those citizens.
Hatred and division leading up to the midterm elections
The rhetoric of hate and division in the Democratic Party intensified after Joe Biden primed the midterm election campaign by attacking Republican voters, especially Donald Trump supporters. The president said earlier this month that opposition to his administration is a threat to democracy.
Shortly before, the president called Republicans "semi-fascists." It is a White House-backed strategy that is now being echoed by Democratic representatives and candidates across the country.
