The Candidates

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• In one example, Anderson released an ad claiming that “Joe Biden’s open borders have turned Virginia into a border state. Fentanyl overdoses are way up.” Let’s be clear: not only has President Biden spent more on the border in his first three years than Donald Trump spent in four, research suggests reckless rhetoric espoused by Republicans like Anderson actually encourages some Central Americans to consider making the journey to the U.S.-Mexico border.
• Secondly, the vast majority of fentanyl is seized at ports of entry in commercial trucks and passenger cars, not in the backpacks of asylum-seekers looking to present themselves to Border Patrol agents. The traffickers are also almost entirely U.S. citizens and permanent residents, not migrants. While the fentanyl crisis is a serious matter, it’s simply not an immigration issue.
• Anderson has also embraced endorsements from a number of extreme figures, including Derrick Van Orden, who was at the “Save America” rally on Jan. 6, 2021, “and then joined the crowd that marched down the Mall toward the Capitol,” The Washington Post reported. Anderson said he was “honored” to be endorsed by Van Orden. Anderson said he was also “honored” to accept the endorsement of fourth-ranking House Republican Elise Stefanik, who has echoed the same racist conspiracy theories as the racist mass murderers who attacked El Paso in 2019 and Buffalo in 2022.
• Notably, Anderson has refused to condemn former President Trump for his despicable claims that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of America. This incendiary language is virtually indistinguishable from Adolf Hitler’s rhetoric, but when given the chance to distance himself or disavow this horrific language, Trump instead doubled down. Republicans and their right-wing allies have also been engaged in a campaign spreading nativist conspiracies in order to justify subverting democracy amongst supporters, socializing the idea that any election result they do not like can be blamed on this conspiracy of fraudulent immigrant voters.
• Yet Anderson has remained silent as Trump has echoed the language of dictators, and as his extreme friends have used immigrants to sow doubt and distrust in our electoral process.

If Anderson wins his bid for Congress this year, he’ll be an assured rubber stamp for the Republican agenda and their failed chaos and cruelty approach to the border. He offers no real solutions to address the concerns at the border while he and his friends embrace dangerous conspiracy theories, jeopardizing all our safety. Anderson’s friends are bullies and extremists who demonize our communities and have spent their time in the majority pushing dangerous conspiracies that threaten our public safety and our democracy. Anderson’s friends show us exactly who they are.