By Noam N. Levey, Kff Health News

How many Americans who voted for Donald Trump hopes that Jason Rouse hopes that President's return will mean lower prices for gas, food and other essential foundations.

But Rouse looks into the federal government for relief from a certain pain point: high health costs. “The prices are just ridiculous,” said Rouse, 53, a retired firefighter and paramedic in Michigan, who voted 3 times for Trump. “I would like to see a lower cap on what I have to pay out of my own pocket.”

The regulation of state regulation of health prices was formerly heresy for many Republicans. The GOP leaders strongly rejected the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which included the federal government's costs for the prices of the patients. Recently, the party fought against laws signed by the previous President Joe Biden to limit prescription medication prices.

But when Trump begins his second term, most of the voters who’ve sent him back to the White House greet more robust measures from the federal government to contain a health system that many Americans perceive uncontrolled, as surveys show.

“This idea that the government should simply keep its hands away, even if things are difficult for humans, has lost its shine” Public settings About government and health care.

“We hike all over the country with a series of old, outdated framework conditions about what ordinary Democrats and ordinary Republicans like,” he said.

The Republican voters are emphasizing the federal borders of the costs accused by pharmaceutical corporations and hospitals, limits the medical bills of patients and restrictions on how health service providers can pursue people on account of medical debt.

Even Medicaid, the state insurance program, which republican congress manager dramatically perform, is inexpensive From many GOP voters like Ashley Williamson.

Williamson, 37, mother of 5 years in Eastern Tene nesse, who voted for Trump, said that Medicaid had provided critical support when her mother-in-law had take care of home care. “We couldn't take care of them,” said Williamson. “It occurred. It was certain that she implemented herself.”

Williamson, whose circle of relatives is reported on her husband's employer, said that she would very much care for large cuts in Medicaid Finance, which could endanger the reporting for needy Americans.

For years, republican ideas for health care have been reflected in broad skepticism for the federal government and fears that the federal government would threaten patients access to doctors or life -saving drugs.

“The discussions 10 to 15 years ago were around the election,” said Christine Matthews, a Republican storm that worked for varied GOP politicians, including the previous governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan. “Free market, not to have the state border or to take over your health care.”

Matthews and the opposite encoder manager Mike Perry recently convened and paid for several focus groups with Trump voters, including Rouse and Williamson, who watched KFF Health News.

Skepticism towards the federal government lingered among the many ranked Republicans. And ideas akin to switching all Americans right into a single state health plan that resembles “Medicare for everyone” are still non -starters for a lot of GOP voters.

But how tens of million Americans are driven in debt After medical bills that they can’t understand or cannot afford, many rate their tendency to look totally free markets as the federal government, said Bob Ward, whose company Fabrizio Ward asked for Trump's 2024 campaign.

“I think most people look at this and say that the market is broken, and that's why they are ready to enter someone, anyone,” he said. “The deck is stacked against people.”

In A Recent national surveyFabrizio Ward and Hart Research, who has asked for democratic candidates for a long time, showed that Trump voters were more liable for health insurers, pharmaceutical corporations and hospital systems than the federal government for top health costs.

Sarah Bognaski, 31, an administrative assistant within the state of New York, is one in all the various Trump voters who say that they profit from the healthcare industry. “I don't think there is a reason why a large part of the costs should be as high as they are,” said Bognaski. “I think it's only out of pure greed.”

High health costs have affected Bognaski, which was diagnosed 4 years ago with type -1 -diabetes, an illness that is dependent upon insulin. She said she was able to enter the federal government and limit what patients pay for medicinal products. “I would like to see more regulation,” she said.

Charles Milliken, a retired automobile mechanic in West Virginia, who said that he supported Trump since the country “does not need a businessman, no politician”, expects the brand new president go further.

“I think he will set an upper limit for which insurance companies that can calculate doctors, which hospitals can calculate,” said Milliken, 51, who recently had a heart attack, which led him with greater than 6,000 US dollars in medical debts.

Three quarters of the Trump voters control the state borders, which may reap the benefits of hospitals, as Ward's surveys have found.

And about half of the Trump voters in a single Newer KFF Opinion poll The recent administration should set a priorities to expand the variety of medicines, the worth of which is set by negotiations between the Federal Medicare program and the pharmaceutical company.

Perry, who has convened dozens of focus groups with the voters about health care in recent times, said that the support for the federal government's price limit was all of the more remarkable, because the regulation of medical prices isn’t at the highest of the agenda of most politicians. “It seems to be like a floor,” he said. “You have come to this decision yourself, and not all political decision -makers who lead them there that something has to be done.”

Other types of state regulation, akin to B. Borders for medical debt collections are much more popular.

About 8 out of 10 Republicans supported an upper limit of two,300 US 2023 survey by Perry's ballot. Perryundem. And 9 out of 10 favored an upper limit for rates of interest that were calculated for medical debts.

“This is what I would consider from a political perspective as a no-brainer,” said Ward.

However, the political GOP leaders in Washington have historically showed little interest in state limits for the payment of medical care. And when Trump and his allies begin within the congress with the design of their health agenda, many Republican leaders are more all in favour of the reduction of the federal government than to expand their protection.

“There is often a massive separation,” said Ward, “between what happens in the Caucuses on the Capitol Hill and what happens to family tables all over America.”

© 2025 Kff Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Originally published: March 4, 2025 at 11:23 a.m. PST

Washington – each time a baby is born in Louisiana, where the Republican house spokesman speak Mike Johnson The practical re -election last yr is greater than 60% random taxpayers who will finance the birth Through Medicaid.

In Republican representatives. David Valadao In Central California District, 6 out of 10 people, use Medicaid to pay for visits to the doctor and emergency rooms.

And a 3rd of the population is roofed by Medicaid in Alaska by Gop Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of the vital expensive corners of the nation for health care.

Each of those Republican and a few of their conservative colleagues acted last week in a departure from the long-term GOP guidelines to defend Medicaid. Republicans who’ve already excluded massive reductions for social security and medicar will draw their attention to Medicaid's absence in the subsequent decade as much as 880 billion US dollars to finance tax cuts of 4.5 trillion dollars.

But as a deadline too Avoid partially state closure Close short deletions among the many Republican legislators in Washington – once reliable critics of the high state social programs equivalent to Medicaid – divide that say that the deep cuts of the health program for people at home could prove to be too unsustainable.

“I heard of countless voters who tell me that they can only afford medical care if they are programs like Medicaid,” said Valadao on the home floor. “And I will not support a final reconciliation calculation that is to leave them behind.”

And on Wednesday, President Donald Trump also made his position on Medicaid: “We won't touch it.”

States and the federal government together pay Medicaid, which offers almost free medical health insurance for around 80 million arms and disabled Americans, including hundreds of thousands of youngsters. It cost 880 billion US dollars for the corporate in 2023.

Johnson has excluded two of the best potential cuts: to vary firm, shrunk rates of interest for the availability and alter within the calculation of the share of federal dollars that every state receives for Medicaid. Just a few years ago, Johnson headed a report This was committed to a few of these changes throughout the first Trump administration.

In a CNN interview, Johnson insisted that the main focus will as a substitute find “fraud, waste and abuse” in Medicaid, even though it is unlikely that it’s going to deliver the Setting Republican.

GOP printing about Medicaid is increasing and a few state leaders of the state party join the decision to take care of this system. States are already to fight With the growing costs of sick patients and will cover more if the federal government withdraws. In some states, the federal government is taking on over 80%.

More than a dozen Minnesota GOP legislator recently wrote to the President that “too deep from a cut is not manageable in any case.” Governor Joe Lombardo, R-Nev., told The congress in a letter by which “proposed reductions would endanger life”. In Alaska, the bulk leader of the Senate majority Cathy Giessel, a Republican and nurse, quoted “great concerns” during a floor speech.

According to a survey by the Associated Press-Norc Center for Public Affairs Research, 55% of the Americans stated that the federal government just isn’t doing enough for Medicaid.

“It is now a very popular program that affects a very wide cross -section of American society,” said Drew Altman, President of the Research Company for Healthcare. “About half of the American population says that they or a family member have been served by the program once.”

Significant changes to Medicaid are still on the table. You should be for Republicans who receive the savings you wish for tax cuts.

Work requirements, This could save as much as 109 billion US dollars in the subsequent decadeappear to have solid support amongst GOP members, with some individual states guided by Republicans who’re already implemented to implement them.

The Republicans could also consider cuts or coverage and eliminate a provider tax that use states to finance Medicaid, added Altman.

Democrats warn that reductions are inevitable and might be bad.

From Monday, TV ads in 20 congress districts will warn that hospitals might be vulnerable to closing and that hundreds of thousands of individuals could lose cover if the Republicans Medicaid shorten “massive tax cuts for Elon Musk and billionaires”. The house striker of the Democratic Super Political Action Committee began the seven-digit campaign.

Trump and the Republicans have been calling for state supply for years, but they’ve tried to formulate a serious plan that’s attending to the rise. For example, Trump has spent almost a decade to argue to revise the Affordable Care Act. His efforts to abolish the National Health Act of the Obama era failed in his first term and in his latest presidential campaign he only offered “concepts of a plan” to adapt this system.

Michael Cannon, a director of health sciences on the Libertarian Cato Institute, is of the opinion that Medicaid needs a revision since it is a necessary a part of the federal budget and a contribution to the growing debt of the country.

But the Republicans, he said, don’t examine any serious opportunities to scale back health care costs.

“The only reason for the cuts is currently to pay tax cuts,” said Cannon. “None of them talks about the need to carry out a better health reform.”

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Originally published: March 2, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. PST

policy

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump's allies on Capitol Hill rallied Thursday around Pete Hegseth, Trump's Pentagon favorite, at the same time as recent details emerged about allegations that he sexually assaulted a girl in 2017.

The GOP endorsement of Hegseth got here as one other controversial Trump nominee, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his candidacy for attorney general. Gaetz said it was clear he had change into a “distraction” because the House of Representatives was pressured to release an ethics report into allegations of his own sexual misconduct. A lawyer for 2 women said his clients told House Ethics Committee investigators that Gaetz had paid them for sex multiple times since 2017, when Gaetz was a congressman in Florida.

New questions on the 2 candidates' pasts and their treatment of ladies emerged as Republicans got here under pressure from Trump and his allies to quickly confirm his Cabinet. At the identical time, his transition has to date failed because of the traditionally required vetting and background checks.

While few Republican senators have publicly criticized any of Trump's nominees, it became clear after Gaetz's withdrawal that many had private concerns about him. Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who served within the House with Gaetz, said it was a “positive step.” Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker said it was a “positive development.” Maine Sen. Susan Collins said Gaetz “put the country first and I am pleased with his decision.”

However, after meeting with Hegseth, Republicans rallied around him. “I think he'll be in pretty good shape,” said Wicker, who is predicted to chair the Senate Armed Services Committee in the following Congress.

Republican senators' cautious words and their initial reluctance to publicly query Trump's decisions highlighted not only their fear of retaliation from the brand new president, but additionally a few of their hopes that the confirmation process can proceed normally, with proper vetting and background checks, which could disqualify problematic candidates sooner. Gaetz withdrew after meeting with senators on Wednesday.

Senator Thom Tillis said Gaetz was “in a pressure pot” when he decided to withdraw, but suggested it might have little impact on Trump's other nominees. “Transactions – one at a time,” he said.

As Hegseth's nomination moves forward, Republicans also seem like betting that they won't face much backlash in the event that they publicly deny the allegations of sexual misconduct – especially after Trump won the election after being found guilty of sexual abuse last 12 months had been.

Hegseth held a series of personal meetings with recent Vice President JD Vance on Thursday to shore up support, telling reporters afterward: “The matter has been fully investigated and I've been fully cleared, and I'll leave it at that.”

A 22-page police report released late Wednesday provided the primary detailed account of the allegations against him. A lady told police that she was sexually assaulted by Hegseth in 2017 after he took her phone, blocked the door to a hotel room in California and refused to permit her to go away. The report cited police interviews with the alleged victim, a nurse who treated her, a hotel worker, one other woman on the event and Hegseth.

Hegseth's attorney, Timothy Palatore, said the incident was “fully investigated and police have determined the allegations are false.” Hegseth paid the lady in 2023 as a part of a confidential settlement to avert the specter of what he called a baseless lawsuit, Palatore said.

Wicker downplayed the allegations against Hegseth, a former Fox News host, saying, “Since no charges have been filed by authorities, all we have are press reports.”

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said after his meeting with Hegseth that he shared with him “the fact that I was saddened by the attacks coming his way.”

Hagerty dismissed the allegations as “a he said, she said thing” and called it a “disgrace” that they were even made.

The senator said attention should as a substitute deal with the Defense Department, which Hegseth would lead. It is one of the complex parts of the federal government, with greater than 3 million employees, including military personnel and civilians. Sexual assault is a persistent problem within the military, although Pentagon officials are cautiously optimistic that they may see a decline in reported sexual assaults amongst active-duty military personnel and at military academies.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, who shall be the No. 2 Republican within the Senate next 12 months, said after his meeting with Hegseth that the candidate was a robust candidate who “promised that the Pentagon will deal with strength and hard power – “Not on the current.” The government’s woke political agenda.”

Senate Republicans are under pressure to carry hearings as soon as they take office in January and to substantiate nominees once Trump is inaugurated, although there are doubts about whether Trump's decisions shall be properly scrutinized or whether some, like Hegseth, have enough experience for the job.

Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, who shall be the highest Democrat on the panel next 12 months, said the reports about Hegseth “highlighted the need for a thorough investigation by the FBI in light of all nominees.”

A straightforward majority is required to approve Cabinet nominations. This implies that if all Democrats were against a candidate, 4 Republican senators would also should resign for a Trump decision to be rejected. Trump has made it clear that he’s willing to place maximum pressure on Senate Republicans to provide him the nominees he wants — and even suggested at one point that they might allow him to easily approve his nominees without Senate votes appoint.

But senators insist, for now, that they usually are not giving up their constitutional say.

“The president has the right to make the nominations he sees fit, but the Senate also has the responsibility to advise and consent,” said Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota. In Gaetz's case, he said, “I think advice was given rather than consent.”

“I consider myself a true Republican. We always referred to Biden and Kamala as 'corpses and cacklers' in our house.” “I'm a lifelong Republican – with smaller government, lower taxes and no interference in our lives.” “I grew up in the Reagan era and Reagan was a hero in my homeland. So he was my hero.” “I think these days you really can't say that someone who's pro-choice has to be liberal.” Abortion is changing the Republican Party in this election. Here in Arizona, nearly a third of Republicans say they will support Proposition 139, a state ballot measure that would legalize abortion up to about 24 weeks. “I would say 20 years ago that definitely wouldn't have been the case.” We spoke to 3 long-time Republican Party supporters about how the top of Roe v. Wade affects their vote. “I grew up very Catholic. I have never known anyone who had an abortion. I don't think I said the word out loud until after I got married.” “When I heard Roe was overturned, I wasn't particularly surprised. Our state law reverted to the previous law from 1864.” “No one could quite believe it. I mean, it really came so quickly.” The 1864 law was passed in the course of the Civil War, when Arizona was still a territory, and imposed a near-total ban on abortion. “Even conservatives in Arizona thought it made little sense.” The law was repealed in May and a ban was imposed after 15 weeks. But it caused some Arizonans to reconsider their stance on abortion. “I had to stop and think: How do I feel about this? What could be the possible impacts? And the more I read, the more news I watched, the more afraid I became for women. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am a mother of 10 children and a grandmother. While I believe in the sanctity of life, I just don't believe it's my right to choose someone else.” “I think when people go through something like this, it's probably the most painful decision they've ever made have. I was a delegate to the 2016 convention, and the day we had the vote in Arizona to go to convention, I realized I was bleeding. It turned out that I was somehow pregnant and it had started. I went to the doctor and had to have a D&C done. Let's assume the 1864 law was in force. Would they have allowed me to have a D&C? Would they have investigated me? I voted for Trump in 2016; I voted for Trump in 2020, but I will not vote for him again.” “President Trump is proud of his dismantling of Roe v. Wade. It doesn’t serve women well. It doesn't serve the country well. And that's why I can't support that and I would say to my friends: If Prop 139 is your problem, I don't see how you could support candidate Trump.” “I will always be a Republican. I listen to NPR in the mornings, it reminds me every day why I'm a Republican, but I can't imagine voting for either party at this point, for neither party.” “I'm going to vote for Kamala Harris. I did phone banking once and will do it again. This time I think a lot of Arizonans feel, and I feel, that our voice actually counts.”

Every major election within the last two years has led to the refrain: “Abortion is on the ballot.” That actually applies to the upcoming presidential election and the voting rounds in November 2024.

There are stark differences between Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump on reproductive rights.

Trump often touts his success in getting the appointment three of the Supreme Court justices who voted for it in June 2022 repeal the constitutional right to abortion.

But because the election approaches, Trump and other members of the Republican Party have downplayed the abortion issue. For example, Trump improbably claimed on September 24 that if elected, women “won't think anymore about abortion,” because the issue now lies with the states.

During the general public speeches, nobody mentioned abortion Republican National Convention in July. Abortion rights and other reproductive health issues were a central theme on the Democratic National Convention in August.

The morning after the top of the Democratic National Convention Trump posted on Truth Social: “My government will be great for women and their reproductive rights.” He has also said that he would advocate in vitro fertilizationor IVF, including requiring the federal government or insurers to pay for it – even when the president doesn’t have the authority to require it.

Presidents have one a point of strength on abortion policy—for instance, they will support or veto bills related to abortion, and so they can issue executive actions to set federal policy priorities.

In short, the president has the facility to make it much easier or harder for somebody to get an abortion — or other types of reproductive health care.

Abortion ban within the Republican Party platform

Until recently, the Republican Party officially promoted anti-abortion policies.

Specifically, every Republican Party platform from 1984 to 2016 called for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that might ban abortion. The 2016 Republican platform mentioned abortion 35 just. In 2020, the Republican Party didn’t adopt a brand new program.

Trump's recent statements of support for IVF and his waffling on abortion access contradict his past actions, including his choice of a vice chairman – JD Vance – who has strong anti-abortion views.

These mixed messages can have something to do with the undeniable fact that there are laws banning abortions not popular within the USA about 65% of Americans reject the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling The the appropriate to abortion abolished. Only 34% of Americans said in May 2024 that they supported this decision.

Since 2022, voters have supported abortion rights in various state ballot initiatives which have enshrined the appropriate to abortion of their state constitutions.

The GOP Platform 2024: “Make America Great Again!” adopts a brand new tactic by which abortion is mentioned just once and the difficulty of abortion is left to the states.

The Republican platform Instead, there may be a provision entitled “Republicans will protect and defend the voice of the people within the states on the issue of life.” But that key The opaque commitment states:

“We believe that the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that no person shall be denied life or liberty without due process of law and that states are therefore free to enact laws to protect these rights. We will oppose late-term abortions while supporting mothers and policies that promote prenatal care, access to birth control and IVF (fertility treatments).”

The platform doesn’t explain how a second Trump administration would oppose “late-term abortion,” which shouldn’t be a medical term and will discuss with any point in pregnancy starting within the second trimester. However, through the presidential debate in September, Trump repeated the false claim that Democrats are pushing Abortion “after birth” – which in fact wouldn’t be abortion, but moderately child murder, which is a criminal offense.

Additionally, phrases corresponding to “No one can be denied life…” and “States are…free to enact laws to protect these rights” exhibit Republican support for the Constitution Protecting the rights of fetuses.

Therefore, despite recent public overtures, abortion stays a policy priority for the Republican Party.

Project 2025, for instance, a policy document conceived and written by the Heritage Foundation mostly from former Trump administration officialscalls for the enforcement of the Comstock Law. This 1873 federal law prohibited the mailing of “obscene” materials for illegal purposes.

Today, abortion opponents consider this Enforcement of the Comstock Act could prevent abortion drugs from being shipped to states with abortion bans and restrictions. Project 2025 also calls for revoking the Food and Drug Administration's approval of mifepristone, certainly one of two drugs utilized in medication abortions. These could be significant restrictions on access to abortion.

The focus of the Democratic Party platform is reproductive rights

The Democratic Party 2024 programwhich was written when President Joe Biden was still the nominee, takes a distinct approach.

The platform criticizes the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision as “an extreme act” with “devastating consequences across the country.” While the 2024 Democratic platform is the primary post-Dobbs, its commitment to reproductive freedom is consistent with previous Democratic policy plans.

The platform's statement on “Reproductive Freedom” details the steps the Biden-Harris administration has taken to try to restore reproductive access, including executive orders corresponding to Protecting the Right to Traveling for an abortion from states with abortion bans. This is because some states with abortion bans are attempting to make it harder for people to get an abortion elsewhere.

It also sets out needed further steps in a brand new term, including passing “national legislation to make roe the law of the land again”, strengthening access to contraceptives and protecting the power to freeze embryos and perform IVF.

Both Biden and Harris have repeatedly promised to defeat Roe v. To “codify” Wade.. As the Democratic presidential candidate, Harris has brought the difficulty of reproductive rights further to the forefront. This follows Harris' work as vice chairman, when she spoke out early and infrequently about Dobbs and the necessity to restore abortion rights.

Harris has it too talked about it reproductive justice, maternal health, and particularly Black women's health. A central a part of Harris and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz's “New Way Forward” campaign is to ““Restore and protect reproductive freedom”“as part of safeguarding “our fundamental freedoms”.

State laws versus presidential power

While presidents have some power over abortion policy, they’re limited in several essential ways with regards to changing reproductive rights, particularly on the state level.

Still, presidents can use their power in other ways, corresponding to setting policy priorities for the Justice Department and other federal agencies. If Trump is elected in November, he could, for instance, instruct the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to do that revoke a policy That reminded hospitals to treat medical emergencies, including abortions, when medically needed, even when state law prohibits abortions.

A Harris administration, then again could prioritize hospital needs to treat all medical emergencies, including if abortion is the needed treatment. It could also make sure that private insurers cover the prices of reproductive care, including abortions, in accordance with current laws.

The President's position on reproductive rights will either increase or decrease the legal chaos, confusion, and conflict which have arisen within the wake of Dobbs and that directly impact the practice of medication and the lives of patients.

Of course, the elections for the House of Representatives and the Senate will even influence what the president can achieve and whether party programs have a probability of becoming law. But with Congress deadlocked, these platforms provide crucial insight into the following administration's likely actions.

Even if Trump has stated As for abortion being a “minor issue” within the November elections, polls suggest otherwise. Abortion stays a thing distinguished topic not only within the presidential election, but additionally in ballot initiatives that might protect abortion access in ten states – a record number for the reason that Dobbs decision.

Many Americans will discover a place on their November 2024 ballot to vote for a very important office: that of local sheriff. Although there are exceptions, sheriffs have long used their power to keep up a certain, unequal balance of power in society, often along racial and sophistication lines.

A recent example of this occurred on September 13, 2024, when Bruce Zuchowski, Sheriff of Portage County, Ohio, posted a message on a Facebook page captioned with a graphic which contained his official portrait and was inscribed together with his official titleZuchowski called on the general public to put in writing down the addresses of individuals whose front yards have campaign signs supporting Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

That way, he said, when immigrants arrive and wish accommodation, “we will already have the addresses of the … families … who supported their arrival.”

The post, which Zuchowski said later appeared on his “personal Facebook page,” included derogatory terms for immigrants and for Harris. It also included screenshots of two Fox News reports on migrants in Aurora, Colorado, and Springfield, Ohio. Both places had been falsely identified by former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and his running mate JD Vance as sites of dangerous immigrant activity.

Sheriffs within the United States do rarely receive national attention within the news, but Zuchowski’s application was The Washington Post, NBC News And The Guardianamongst other things.

There are greater than 3,000 county-level elected sheriffs within the United States, each with the authority and autonomy to set and implement law enforcement policy. For example, sheriffs in lots of states can resolve whether their deputies wear body cameras and what happens to footage captured during routine stops.

In our book “The Power of the Badge: Sheriffs and Inequality in the USA” we provide a comprehensive have a look at this office and detail the history of sheriffs enforcing inequality each through using formal powers of their office, similar to Cooperation with federal immigration authoritiesand with informal powers, similar to communicating who belongs to their community.

Zuchowski's post demonizing immigrants and targeting individuals who advocate for immigrant rights is, as we document in our book, just a part of an extended history of sheriffs using their power as a tool of social control.

Throughout American history, various sheriffs have participated in social control. In the 18th century, for instance, An Alabama sheriff held slave auctions and Georgia's sheriffs played a central role in Enforcement of slave codesIn the nineteenth century A sheriff in Pennsylvania blocked the union's efforts to guard employees' rights against exploitative corporations. In the twentieth century The role of sheriffs within the South in voter suppression throughout the civil rights movement are well documented. In the twenty first century Racial profiling was an issue within the Enforcement of traffic laws of sheriffs in Arizona and California, amongst others. Zuchowski is just certainly one of the twenty first century sheriffs who’ve been Debate on immigration policy And Immigrant rights.

Personal views affect public service

Following Zuchowski’s post, The Portager, a news website for his community, reported that residents said the The position of sheriff was a voter intimidationSome residents have demanded investigations of the Sheriff's Office by local, state and national authorities, including the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

So far, in response to the Ohio Department of State, the sheriff has no laws broken.

Both in our book and previous workswe document through two national surveys how sheriffs' differing views on race and ethnicity can influence the policies and practices of their office.

Zuchowski’s comments about immigrants, including calling them “illegal human locusts,” denies their humanity from Comparing immigrants with animals.

In our research, we found that sheriffs’ negative attitudes toward immigrants were statistically correlated with Anti-immigration sentimentFor example, sheriffs with more negative attitudes usually tend to have an official policy to ascertain the immigration status of crime victims and witnesses. This association remained even after we controlled for the potential influence of other aspects similar to political party affiliation and the proportion of the native-born population in a sheriff's district.

Likewise, as we show in our book, sheriffs with racist views were less prone to tell us that their deputies were trained to cut back racial and ethnic bias in traffic enforcement. This issue is an issue in Portage County, in response to the local NAACP, which released a report in 2023 claiming that the sheriff's office unfairly targets black drivers.

Politics plays a job

Since his first post, Zuchowski defended himself on social media, writing:

“If the citizens of Portage County If you want to vote for someone who supports open borders (which I have personally visited twice!) and has failed to enforce the laws of our country…that is your right. Elections have consequences. That being said…I believe that those who vote for individuals with liberal policies must take responsibility for their actions! I am a law enforcement officer…not a politician!”

Despite Zuchowski's claims, he is definitely a politician. Like other sheriffs across the United States, he was elected by voters. He was the Republican nominee in 2020 and is running for re-election in 2024.

Like sheriffs across the country, Zuchowski had extensive law enforcement experience, including working within the Portage County Sheriff's Office before running to steer the office. We found that greater than 85% of sheriffs worked for the previous sheriff before running for election. And like most other sheriffs, Zuchowski is white. republican Man. We and Miscellaneous find that over 90% of sheriffs are white and over 98% are male.

Across America, sheriffs can be asking voters for his or her support this fall to remain in office. In most counties, these elections are usually not competitive: Sheriffs normally either without opposition or against weak candidates.

In this respect, Portage County is an exception. Zuchowski’s first selection was a tough fight for a vacant seatand he faces a challenger for re-election within the 2024 election. His Democratic opponent, Jon Barber, can be a white man with a police background.

But Barber's Campaign website highlights one other common challenge for voters: learn how to select a great sheriff. His website talks about transparency, accountability and community policing, but doesn't discuss immigration. Voters aren't given a transparent message about any substantive differences between the 2 candidates.

Will Zuchowski’s comments matter to voters? Elsewhere within the country, voters have re-elected sheriffs who anti-immigration And racist Comments.

WASHINGTON — For nearly a decade, former President Donald Trump rallied voters with calls to scale back the dimensions of the federal government and “drain the swamp.”

But now a Republican running in a key race for a House seat is attempting to distance himself from the proposed cuts, in addition to Trump's plans to remove 100,000 federal employees from the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia region while firing “renegade bureaucrats” – a policy that would cost that region's economy billions of dollars.

Derrick Anderson is the Republican candidate running in a hotly contested race to represent Virginia’s seventh congressional district within the House of Representatives. The district has almost 60,000 federal employees live there, about 15% of the population. Even more work as federal contractors.

Anderson said in a press release to CNBC that he would “oppose any legislation that could weaken national security, increase the cost of living or jeopardize VA-7 jobs, no matter where it comes from.”

“This is my home district and I will do everything I can to protect it,” he said.

According to the Cook Political Report, Virginia's seventh Congressional District is one of the competitive House races within the country. But Anderson just isn’t alone. He is the newest example of how Republican congressional candidates in tough elections are being selective about how they align with Trump and the way they show their independence.

Although Republicans held the bulk within the House of Representatives that yr, their narrow majorities often resulted in chaos, an inability to advance a few of their most significant priorities, and difficulty passing laws that absolutely needed to be passed.

For Republicans to implement their program in 2025, they’ll must win elections in several districts that supported Biden in 2020. In November of this yr, they’ll likely support Harris.

Anderson's opponent is a Democratic candidate Eugene Vindmanthe dual brother of Alex Vindman, who testified against Trump during his 2019 impeachment trial.

During a visit to Stafford on August 27, during which Vindman went door to door in 90-degree heat, after just a couple of doors he began talking to a self-described “govie,” a government worker who had concerns about a few of Trump’s proposals.

Anderson was supported by Trump. But Vindman has rather more financial ammunition for the race. As of June 30, Vindman's campaign had raised $7.5 million, in comparison with just $1.4 million for Anderson.

In addition to relocating 100,000 employees from the world, Trump also desires to make it easier to fireside civil servants and replace them with politically loyal employees as a part of an executive order. also known as “Schedule F”. This move alone could affect tens of hundreds of federal employees, a lot of them in Virginia-O7.

In Trump’s political plan entitled Agenda 47Trump also presents plans to crack down on “renegade bureaucrats” and “fire all corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus.”

This hits Vindman hard. He and his brother were each fired from their jobs within the White House following Alexander's outstanding role within the impeachment proceedings against Trump.

“It would be devastating for this area,” said Vindman. “Fundamentally unfair, but devastating for this area, because we are talking about thousands and tens of thousands [of] pretty well-paying jobs. It would be terrible.”

If the plan were implemented, it might not only affect federal employees but in addition contractors and other employees within the region, said Terry ClowerProfessor at George Mason University and director of the Mason Center for Regional Analysis.

He estimated that for each job the federal government creates in an area, one other 0.6 jobs will likely be created – that’s, the lack of 100,000 federal employees would equate to 160,000 jobs. Clower estimated that this projected job loss could cost the state between $27 and $28 billion per yr.

“If all of these companies left Virginia completely, manufacturing would probably be about 5% of gross domestic product,” he said. “That would be a pretty severe recession by modern standards.”

Donald Trump spoke on the Republican National Convention in July 2024 China mentioned 14 timesDuring his 92-minute speech, the previous president repeated his much-criticized term “China virusfor the COVID-19 pandemic, claimed that China was stealing jobs within the auto industry and boasted that his government had beaten China on several fronts.

China has also made it into the important thing speeches on the 2024 Democratic National Convention. On the primary evening President Joe Biden said When he took office, the final perception was that China would inevitably overtake the United States.

“Nobody is saying that now,” he added.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris repeated this opinion last night, claiming that if elected, she would make sure that “America, not China, wins the competition of the 21st century.”

As Expert on the portrayal of China in US media culture and politicsI feel it’s hardly surprising that China is getting used in campaign rhetoric – neither is it surprising that the country is being given unequal weight by Democrats and Republicans.

A proven election trick

Since Biden's exit from the presidential raceIn contrast to their Republican colleagues, the Democratic candidates appear to have limited their references to China in the course of the election campaign.

Trump and his Republican allies have long used China to position themselves as anti-communist and polish their “America first” References. It is a tried and tested election trick, especially for Trump. In the run-up to the 2016 election, Trump referred to China so often that the Huffington Post produced a mashup video of the candidate Repeat of “China” 234 times.

This has continued in the present election cycle.

Apart from the frequent mentions within the speeches of Trump and others, 2024 GOP Platform emphasizes as a central commitment the “securing of strategic independence from China” by restricting trade and investment and “confronting China” with the intention to “restore peace through strength”. In contrast, other supposed adversaries comparable to Russia and Iran will not be mentioned within the official Republican platform.

Meanwhile, Project 2025 – the conservative Heritage Foundation’s political plan that is commonly related to Trump, although his campaign refuses the connection – mentions China a minimum of 483 times in a 922-page document. The project official website even highlights the goal of “taking on China” on the “Info” page.

Neither “dragon slayer” nor “panda hugger”

It was due to this fact not surprising that Trump-supporting elements of the US media pounced on news that Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota who was chosen as Harris' running mate, has previously taught in China and has traveled there an estimated 30 times since 1989, including on his honeymoon.

Although Walz said he was “neither a “dragon slayer” nor a “panda hugger”“When it comes to China, conservative commentators painted Walz as a “Marxist” who would make communist China “very happy.” Fox News host Jesse Watters even demanded that Walz a background check by the FBI due to its ties to China.

On August 16, the chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Republican James Comer, said launched an investigation in Walz's “long-standing connections” to China.

The great waltz of China? Hardly

Among the connections that some Republicans find suspect is that from 1994 to 2003, Walz co-ran Educational Travel Adventures together with his wife, Gwen Walz, an organization they founded that helped students from small-town America travel to China to study Chinese culture. History and cultureDuring his time as a member of the House of Representatives, Walz also served on the Congressional Human Rights Monitoring Commission on China.

While consistently critical of the Chinese governmentWalz also recognized that relations between the United States and China don’t necessarily need to be hostile, but that there are “many areas of cooperation.”

Despite his extensive China-related experience, the Democratic vice presidential candidate has not yet mentioned China in his major campaign speeches – China didn’t make it into his party conference speechIn contrast to the speeches of Harris, Trump and Walz Rival for Vice President, JD Vance.

Walz's apparent reluctance to flaunt his knowledge of China also contrasts with the behavior of a previous Republican presidential candidate, Jon Huntsman, who served as ambassador to China and is fluent in Chinese. During his campaign in 2011, arguably at a special time in U.S.-China relations, Huntsman repeatedly demonstrated his ability to talk Chinese and was often praised for.

Harris' big step forward, not back

One reason for the several emphasis on China for the 2 candidates, for my part, is the several focus of the election. For the Democrats, the upcoming election is about movement – they project the alternative between regression and progress. Headlines like Harris' “We will not be going back“They position the United States and its people as moving toward a way forward for unity, promise and opportunity that they imagine will leave behind the chaos, division and oppression of the past.”

In this context, China's role as a threat is anchored primarily in the world of ​​high-tech competition; Harris's references to China in her speech on the Congress concerned the Future in space and artificial intelligence.

In contrast, the Republican campaign is more focused on protecting an imaginary Americanism from foreign powers, which is why one expects more from Trump and Vance concerning the much-dramatized “Invasion” of immigrants crossing the border illegally the borders and produce drugs and crime with them.

The same logic, I might argue, underlies the Republican Party's frequent invocation of China as a geopolitical and economic threat.

After all, Trump has long attributed quite a lot of actions to the Chinese government, from calling it the creator of the “Wuhan virus“ to the point of blaming the “False report” of climate change. In his speech on the congress, Vance said China is directly linked to the illegal cross-border drug tradeAt a rally in Michigan on August 27, he also said: accused Harris claimed she used taxpayer money to “pay the Chinese Communist Party to build factories on American soil,” but didn’t mention that the Republican-led Congress had developed this system.

This characterization of China suits with what I called “The Racialization of the Chinese State” in my book.Disorienting politics.” The rhetoric portrays China as a robust agent committing nefarious acts that may only harm America.

“Everything revolves around China”

Over the past 20 years, parts of the American media have condemned the rule of the Chinese Communist Party with fascism and totalitarianism.

This rhetoric within the US concerning the “Chinese virus” in the course of the pandemic triggered an increase in reported anti-Asian racist attacks and showed that the fear created a few distant country like China may also sow hatred towards people who find themselves believed to come back from there.

In this sense, Walz's reluctance to say China may reflect a refusal to oversimplify China's complex society. “The best way to get to know people is to hear them tell what it's like where they live,” said the previous social studies teacher. in 1991while chatting with a neighborhood newspaper a few pen pal program between the United States and China.

As the election season progresses, the specter of China is more likely to resurface, at the same time as more pressing geopolitical conflicts proceed to dominate the headlines.

Finally, even certainly one of Walz's former students – a self-described “sleeping Republican” who tried to defend Walz against Republican attacks on his character – advised the Trump campaign to give attention to policy and “Make it a difficulty in China.”

With the rise of Vice President Kamala Harris to the highest of the Democratic list, the Republicans Rebuilding a campaign strategy who has spent months focused on running against President Joe Biden. An emerging theme claims that Harris laughs an excessive amount of at inappropriate moments – Part of a broader argument that Harris is “strange.”

“I call her “laughing Kamala”'” former President Donald Trump said at a rally in Michigan on July 24. “Have you ever seen her laugh? She's crazy. You can tell a lot from a laugh. … She's crazy.”

As a Professor of American Studies with a deal with race and politics, I do know that black women within the United States have a history of fighting violence and oppression. And all too often, once we feel and show joy, ridicule follows. We are seen as too loud, too emotional – So, to “Black Women.”

History shows that that is a well known dog whistle. Black women have been sexually provocative Jezebels, emasculating Sapphires or submissive, caring Mammys in popular culture. These labels obviously don't fit Harris, so Trump has created a brand new epithet: “laughing madly.”

Invisibility has long plagued black women and girls. In response, their decisions, from clothing to spirituality to Activist groupsis usually about becoming visible. They do that to attract attention to injustice and to supply a vision of justice based on their experiences.

In my opinion, black women should have some joy in that visibility, and Harris is paving the way in which in that area.

Exhilaration in battle

Many public views of Harris don’t reflect Trump's portrayal. The Vice President Anecdotessmile, laugh and even – shock – Dancing in public have inspired a flood of fan posts and videos that capture their energy and what media scholar Jamie Cohen calls their “lovable awkwardness.”

For these observers, Harris embodies the thought of Black Joy – a national movement that began in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. NAACP Legal Defense Fund Senior editor Lindsey Norward explains:

“Black joy is an essential part of the entire history of black people in their struggle for dignity and restoration… the unrestricted opportunity to go out and enjoy all the good things in life.”

Act of self-definition

In a book I co-edited with Wake Forest University political scientist Julia Jordan-Zacherywe examined a related concept: Black Girl Magic. Our book describes how Black women and girls maintain their humanity within the face of hostility by fostering community, countering invisibility, and creating spaces for freedom.

Sometimes this implies drawing attention to their struggles. An essay within the book quotes African American Policy Forum Managing Director Kimberlé Crenshaw explains the hashtag #SayHerNamewhich was coined to boost awareness for black women who’re victims of police brutality and anti-black violence.

“Although Black women are routinely killed, raped, and beaten by police, their experiences are rarely foregrounded in popular understandings of police brutality,” Crenshaw wrote. “Nevertheless, incorporating Black women's experiences into social movements, media reports, and policy demands around policing and police brutality is critical to effectively combating racist state violence against Black and other communities of color.”

On July 23, 2024, Harris released a press release expressing sadness over the “senseless death” of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old black woman who was shot in her home in Illinois by a deputy sheriff who responded to a report of a burglar. The deputy sheriff was released and charged with murderbased on bodycam footage from one other deputy showing him threatening Massey after she reprimanded him after which shooting her.

“Sonya Massey deserves to be safe,” Harris wrote. “The disturbing footage released yesterday confirms what we know from the experiences of so many people – we still have a lot of work to do to ensure our justice system fully lives up to its name.” In other words, Harris spoke Massey's name.

Write your personal story

Our book argued that within the age of Trump, whom black women almost without exception see as hostile to their interestsIt is more essential than ever for black women and girls to seek out the balance between humanity and magic.

As then-First Lady Michelle Obama said in a speech on the Black Girls Rock Awards in March 2015, young black girls often hear “voices telling them that they are usually not adequate, that you may have to look a certain way, behave a certain way; that you just are too loud whenever you speak your mind; that you just are bossy whenever you take the lead.”

Around this time, creator and social media influencer CaShawn Thompson began tweeting “#BlackGirlMagic” because, she said, “magic something that people don't always understand“Sometimes our successes seem to come out of nowhere because often the only people supporting us are other black women.”

The hashtag went mainstream on the 2016 Black Entertainment Television Awards, where actor and activist Jesse Williams a passionate discussion about race in America. He concluded with a subtle nod:

“The burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the viewer. That's not our job, okay – stop it… the thing is, just because we're magical doesn't make us unreal.”

Williams respectfully referenced the #BlackGirlMagic movement, alluding to the incontrovertible fact that black girls' and girls's identities include resistance to narratives that exclude them and a willingness to define themselves.

Harris has faced this challenge persistently over the course of her profession as district attorney, attorney general, senator and vice chairman. Now she must reinvent herself as a presidential candidate. And even with a big campaign team, Harris could have to do it herself.

As Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison noted, the black woman has “nothing to fall back on: not masculinity, not whiteness, not ladyhood, nothing. And from the profound desolation of her reality it may well be that she thought of something herself.”

Our book highlighted the emotional strength that black women use to perform so many feats while overcoming insurmountable barriers. It isn’t any exaggeration to call what they do magic.

To run a successful campaign, Harris will need quite a lot of support – from black women and plenty of others. There will likely be serious issues, from border security to foreign policy to the economy. But Harris also has an actual likelihood to bring her humor and positive energy to a very dark vision from the GOP – without letting them dictate when she will laugh.