Dan Forest Complains of “Identity Politics” After Stoking Tensions In North Carolina For Years
The Chief Architect of North Carolina’s “Bathroom Bill” Complains About Divisive Rhetoric Weeks After Accusing Planned Parenthood Of Seeking To “Destroy The Entire Black Race”
In a recent interview with the AP, one of North Carolina’s most divisive figures, Dan Forest, complained that voters are “tired of identity politics”. Unsurprisingly, Forest failed to take responsibility for his central role in stoking tensions in North Carolina.
Even Forest’s fellow Republicans found this statement ludicrous. Holly Grange, a former U.S. Army officer and West Point cadet said Forest “has been divisive”. Grange specifically cited his support of the “bathroom bill” and the financial hit her hometown took due to HB2.
Forest’s divisiveness has had material consequences for the state. As the chief architect of the job-killing and discriminatory HB2, he holds responsibility for North Carolina losing $3.76 billion in economic activity.
Earlier this year, Forest drew national headlines for his repeatedly debunked claim that Planned Parenthood was created to “destroy the entire black race”. Despite widespread criticism of his comments, Forest doubled down on his absurd statement.
The Greensboro News & Record responded to Forest’s claim that he was just concerned about “black babies” by pointing out that “states that have expanded Medicaid so more low-income adults can get health insurance have seen the quickest declines in deaths of black infants.”
“It is the height of hypocrisy for Dan Forest, one of the most divisive political figures in North Carolina to complain about ‘identity politics’,” said DGA National Press Secretary Jerusalem Demsas. “Dan Forest’s entire campaign strategy rests on dividing North Carolinians with overheated rhetoric. If he really cared about kitchen-table issues he would demand the legislature expand Medicaid immediately. Until that point, we can take all his complaints of ‘identity politics’ as the rants of a floundering candidate spending money faster than he can bring it in.”
Here is a list of things Dan Forest could choose to pay attention to instead of continuing to heedlessly divide North Carolinians but we’re not holding our breath:
- The 162,200 diabetics that have gone without their medication due to inadequate health care.
- The 72,300 annual mammograms that have been missed due to inadequate health care.
- The 4,800 to 6,500 people that have died due to lack of access to medical care.
- The $13.4 billion in federal funds that have been lost to the state because of a failure to expand Medicaid.
- The 77,600 jobs that haven’t been created. Over the next three years, expanding Medicaid would create another 37,000 jobs and add $11.7 billion into the state’s economy