These fascist Republican Party leaders have deep roots in California’s state Capitol

The California Republican Party once spawned American presidents and held sway in Sacramento. These days, it seems to produce a disturbing number of wannabe fascists.

The party that once preached smaller government and lower taxes now promotes a twisted faith in Donald Trump’s white supremacist cult of personality. After last week’s violent attack on the United States Capitol, it’s not clear whether the GOP is a political party or a terrorist group. On Monday, ABC News reported that the FBI has issued a memo warning that “armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January.”

The GOP’s slide into anti-democracy extremism has some deep roots in Sacramento. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield served in the California State Assembly and held the position of minority leader before going to Congress. Last week, McCarthy — now the House minority leader — voted against certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

The Republican disinformation campaign to terrify its base into believing that Democrats stole the election resulted in a violent attack that left five people dead. In its aftermath, McCarthy had the gall to decry violence and call for unity. Yet it’s impossible to take him seriously after he abused his authority to promote big, dangerous lies about the election.

Any person with a sense of decency would resign, and there’s no question that McCarthy should step down. Sadly, McCarthy will cling to the trappings of power regardless of the cost.

Opinion

McCarthy wasn’t always a radical extremist.

“McCarthy leans to the middle,” wrote Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton in 2003 when McCarthy ascended to Republican leadership in the State Capitol. “He supports most abortion rights, but opposes spending tax dollars on abortions.”

The column described McCarthy as “a deal-maker rather than an ideologue” and a “pragmatist, not a policy purist.” Not anymore. McCarthy will be remembered as an architect of failed insurrection and a servile opportunist who led House Republicans off of a cliff to impress a madman.

Then there’s Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove. He served two separate stints in the state Assembly, where he seemed like a garden variety conservative — opposing taxes, supporting spending cuts and holding bigoted views against the LGBT community.

In the Trump era, McClintock morphed into an extremist tool. He has attacked mail-in voting, parroting the caustic lie that it amounted to a “corrupted process.” After Trump lost the election, McClintock supported a lawsuit to overturn the results. The United States Supreme Court rejected it.

After the attempted coup failed in court, McClintock enraged his base by refusing to cast a vote against certifying Biden’s victory. McClintock may believe this makes him a man of principle but, in reality, he’s just a fair-weather fascist — willing to overthrow American democracy only when he believes it might succeed. McClintock should resign in shame, but we can’t expect honorable action from a man who has spent his entire career drawing a government salary while whining about government spending.

McCarthy and McClintock aren’t the only former state legislators with a soulless lack of principle. Reps. Doug LaMalfa of Richvale and Jay Obernolte of Big Bear Lake also served in the legislature before winning congressional seats and attempting to subvert democracy. Behind them, there’s a short line of California Republicans vying for roles in Trump’s stooge circus.

Shannon Grove, the increasingly unhinged leader of Republicans in the state senate, responded to Republican terror attack by blaming “Antifa.”

“Patriots don’t act like this,” said Grove in a tweet that she later deleted.

She got one thing right: After last week, it’s not clear whether one can be both a Republican and patriot. Proving the point, Asm. Randy Voepel, R-Santee, praised the U.S. Capitol attack as “the first shots fired against tyranny.”

Just as telling, however, has been the silence of many Republican state legislators.

State. Sen. Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, rarely misses an opportunity to mouth off to her 35,000 Twitter followers. Over the past week, she has crowed about the effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom and complained about losing Twitter followers. Yet she never said one public word about the attack on the U.S. Capitol. (After an inquiry from The Bee, Melendez claimed she hadn’t been on social media much and called the violence “heartbreaking.”)

State. Sen. Brian W. Jones, R-Santee, tweeted a picture of the “Blue Lives Matter” flag to express his support for National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, but he couldn’t spare a tweet to address the violent insurrection that took the life of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknik. Do police officers’ lives not matter when they’re taken by violent Republican insurrectionists?

A review of social media, press releases and news stories revealed that only eight of California’s 28 Republican state legislators made personal statements condemning the violence. Some, like Jones, tweeted their generic appreciation for police officers without acknowledging the one killed by rampaging Republicans.

“The events unfolding at the US Capitol are outrageous and likely seditious,” tweeted state Sen. Andreas Borgeas, R-Fresno, who is apparently the only one of California’s nine Republican state senators willing to directly say the truth. “It must end immediately … this is un-American.”

Why is it so hard for most California Republicans to denounce violence and defend democracy? A scan of Parler, the right-wing social media site recently deplatformed by Apple, Google and Amazon for inciting violence, makes the reason clear. You see, despite their efforts to overturn the 2020 election and foment anti-government action, McCarthy and McClintock have failed to satisfy their rabid fascist base.

Here’s a sample of the overwhelmingly negative responses they received for condemning the violence after helping to foment it:

“You are a backstabbing traitor.”

“Don’t talk to me about unity, we are finished with you all.”

“Weak is the only good word I can call you.”

“Complete cowards!!! You and the rest of you will get a big surprise in 22.”

“Remember we the people won’t forget and you will be voted out. You will not be able to walk down the street.”

Republicans played with fire. Now they’re feeling the heat. The only way these pathetic politicians can keep their seats is by catering to an extremist base that has now developed a taste for bloodshed and sedition. These so-called leaders embrace lies and enable fascism because telling the truth or standing up for democracy will make them targets of scorn. It’s a hellish predicament, but this is a hell of the Republican Party’s own making.

Any Republican who lacks the courage to condemn Trump’s political terrorism and lies will be remembered as an accomplice.