Rep. Mary Miller blasts study that finds her 'polarizing rhetoric' among most inflammatory

Rep. Mary Miller's "polarizing rhetoric" makes her one of the most divisive legislators in the U.S. Congress, according to a New York Times study published Sunday.

The study evaluated lawmakers' tweets, newsletters, Facebook ads and statements from the Congressional Record from 2010 through June.

The analysis employed language software to tally how often legislators used hostile words.

It found that in the current Congress, "representatives who fought certifying the election used polarizing language on Twitter about 55 percent more often than other Republicans, and nearly triple the rate of Democrats.”

Miller, a Republican from Oakland who is completing her first term representing the Illinois 15th District, voted against the certification of Joe Biden as president in the 2020 election. She has strongly stood with former President Donald Trump, who endorsed her in a contentious Republican primary against Rep. Rodney Davis in the re-drawn 15th District on June 28.

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Miller is widely regarded as the prohibitive favorite in the Nov. 8 general election pitting her against Democrat Paul Lange of Mendon.

"Ms. Miller’s inflammatory words underscore the extent to which polarizing rhetoric is now entrenched among Republicans in the House of Representatives," the New York Times wrote.

Shortly after her swearing-in in early 2021, Miller created waves by telling a Moms for America group in Washington, D.C. that “Hitler was right on one thing," referring to winning “the hearts and minds of our children” to determine the future. Miller later apologized for the remark.

During a visit by Trump to the Adams County Fairgrounds on June 25, Miller credited him for the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, calling it a “victory for white life.”

A Miller spokesman told NBC News that Miller "meant to say 'right to life.'" Miller appeared to be reading from prepared remarks at the rally.

In tweets, Miller has blamed the Democratic agenda for its "open borders, rampant crime, rolling blackouts, 40-year high inflation, child castration, and 'nuclear armageddon.'"

John T. Shaw, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, said the language resonates with a segment of the Republican Party affiliated with Trump, but that language "would have been unacceptable a generation ago, unthinkable, possibly disqualifying.

"The language, to me, is light on substance and heavy on invective, heavy on anger, heavy on division and recrimination. It's the type of language that would have disappointed and even shocked someone like (President) Ronald Reagan, let alone Paul Simon."

Simon, the late Democratic U.S. Senator from Illinois, is the namesake of the institute in Carbondale.

Miller blamed the Biden Administration for attempting to "coerce Americans into accepting abortion and radical gender ideology." Miller has railed against "Hollywood hypocrites, the lying fake news media, the Big Tech oligarchs & the 'woke' companies that have all sold out to China."

The New York Times article said Miller "regularly quotes the Bible and writes 'Happy Sunday' messages to her followers." It also referenced Miller's reaction --"the left cheer this"-- to the Satanic Temple display next to the Nativity scene inside the Illinois State Capitol rotunda.

Miller reacted to the study in a statement to The State Journal-Register. "Joe Biden's policies of opening our southern border to a flood of fentanyl, destroying our domestic energy industry, trying to force Americans to get the COVID shot, and pushing children to be chemically castrated are extremely 'polarizing,' and I will never stop fighting his extremist agenda."

In an earlier tweet, Miller referred to the "fake news 'New York Times' as "radical leftists."

Lange did not respond to a request seeking comment.

Miller, said Shaw, has decided on "a tone of speech and a way of talking about politics that she's going to take and run with. I don't doubt that it's going to resonate with some parts of the Republican base. What I do doubt is that it's an effective strategy for solving problems and making the country better."

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Illinois Rep. Mary Miller among candidates using 'polarizing language'