I was not originally planning on tuning in to watch presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren hold a town hall at Jackson State University Monday night, but the decision to push local media to another room and make the town hall a ticketed event peaked my interest. In the era of media being the “enemy of the people” it would seem obvious a Democratic candidate would want to throw open the door to show they differ from the current administration. I decided to tune in to see what the fuss was about.
Now, half the fun of politics for me is the response candidates’ statements get on Twitter, and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tate Reeves did not disappoint. Using Warren’s statements with a truckload of hyperbole and a sprinkle of lies, Reeves did a great job of perpetuating the fearmongering myths rampant in conservative circles.
For instance, on a question about gun control, Warren responded she fully supported shoring up and expanding background checks. Shortly after, Reeves tweeted about how Mississippians would not give up their guns when the Federal government comes to take them. As far as political temper tantrums on social media go, Reeves did a fairly good job riling up his base and ensuring we’ll spend the next two weeks talking about what Warren actually said instead of discussing the issues. I’ll give him an 8/10 for political BS.
Warren also gets a pretty high score for pandering and half-truths in my book. In her town hall she gave plenty of non-answers and sidestepped tough questions. On the question of what reparations, which she supports, would look like, she spent a few minutes talking about forming a committee of “experts” to make a recommendation to congress. When asked about her claim of Native American heritage, she sidestepped the issue completely giving a few unrelated comments before CNN’s Jake Tapper swooped in to provide a different talking point.
Warren talked a lot about bills she has sponsored and directions she’d like to go, but very little was said about how she plans to accomplish these goals. Instead, Warren tried to connect with the people by railing against corporate influence in Washington, demonizing the big tech giants and vowing to end government corruption. I’ll be interested in seeing what the fact checkers have to say about some of her claims, but I’m guessing her message was slightly inflated. It is politics after all.
Over the coming months, I expect we’ll see more presidential candidates come to Mississippi, a surprising, yet welcome change to the usual stops along the campaign trail. Rest assured I do not plan to write a column about every candidate’s visit, mainly because at 29, I’m hoping to get at least another five years before I have to take blood pressure medication.
However, I encourage you all to research the candidates and issues you’re interested in, and feel free to send me a letter to the editor to share your views.
Already, this presidential elections feels like it’s going to be a rough one, but we’ll all get through it together.
Thomas is the managing editor of the Newton County Appeal. He can be reached at thoward@newtoncountyappeal.com
