Virginia congressional candidate Hung Cao implied that Democrats’ claims of Republican extremism are similar to the treatment of Muslims in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in a Sunday debate.
Cao, a retired Navy special operations officer, is running against incumbent Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton in Virginia’s Tenth District. He is a participant in the National Republican Congressional Committee’s (NRCC) Young Guns program, and Wexton is an NRCC target. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) includes her in their Frontline defense program.
The two candidates debated at the Dar Alnoor Islamic Community Center, in an event co-hosted by the MOVE Chamber of Commerce. Towards the end of the debate, Cao held up posters created by the Wexton campaign claiming that he is an “extremist.” (RELATED: Hillary Clinton Says 9/11 Reminds Americans To Fight ‘Extremism’ Amid White House Attacks On ‘MAGA Republicans’)
“Where have you heard this word before?” Cao asked. “Where have you heard this word before? I fought and served this country. I bled for this country. And I’m being called an ‘extremist.’ I’ve served honorably for every American. I know lots of people that served with me didn’t agree with my politics. And its fine. I served them anyways. I served them as a commanding officer, and I served them in combat, to preserve life. And now I’m being called an ‘extremist.'”
“Where have you heard that before? This is how we tear people apart. I deserve to be called an American. I’ve earned that right. We’ve all earned that right. We’ve earned that right to be called Americans, even though we weren’t born here,” he continued.
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Wexton responded that her advertisements spoke to Cao’s positions on issues such as abortion and gun control.
“His views are extreme. His opinions are extreme on women’s health. His opinions are extreme on gun violence prevention,” she said, as the audience loudly booed her. “They are. I’m calling him extreme because his views on these issues are extreme and they’re outside the mainstream of this district.”
Many elected Democrats have referred to their Republican opponents as “extremist.” Rep. Tim Ryan, the Democratic Party’s nominee in Ohio’s open Senate race, claimed in September that Americans have to “kill and confront” an extremist Republican movement.
“Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal,” President Joe Biden said in a September speech. “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
Despite those claims, Democrats spent more than $53 million across thirteen races promoting the candidacies of Republicans who falsely claimed that President Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Six of those thirteen Republicans won their primary campaigns.