From the LuAnn Bennett for Congress campaign:
Donald Trump’s VP choice has direct ties through Anti-Abortion Group to Rep. Comstock
McLean – Today, presumptive GOP Presidential nominee Donald Trump officially selected as his running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence, an anti-LGBT, anti-choice extremist with deep ties to Representative Barbara Comstock. On immigration, LGBT rights, funding for women’s healthcare, and abortion-rights, Comstock and Pence share the same extreme agenda.
“The addition of Mike Pence to the Republican ticket is the perfect complement to Donald Trump and Barbara Comstock and the extreme agenda they share,” said Bennett spokesman Robert Howard. “Northern Virginians do not support discrimination against the LGBT community, restricting access to healthcare for women and families, and demeaning our immigrant communities. Unfortunately, these extreme positions are ones which Barbara Comstock and Mike Pence share.”
Comstock, Pence, and Trump oppose LGBT rights
- Comstock has consistently opposed same-sex marriage, and has voted to allow adoption agencies to deny homosexual couples the ability to adopt solely based on their sexual orientation or religious or moral beliefs. [National Review, 2/17/14; Washington Post, 2/7/12]
- Pence is best known for a cruel “religious liberty” bill that legalized discrimination against LGBT people. Pence then revised the measure after its discriminatory nature sparked an outcry across the country and cost his state more than $60 million in economic investment. [Indianapolis Star; 4/2/15]
- Trump has consistently opposed nation-wide marriage equality, noting that he would “strongly consider” appointing Supreme Court judges to overturn the ruling on same-sex marriage. [Fox News, 1/31/2016]
Comstock, Pence and Trump call for cruel policies towards immigrants
- Comstock: “FedEx can track packages coming in here all the time, we can track people who are coming into the country” [Chamber of Commerce Forum, 9/24/14]
- Pence: “I am very supportive of Donald Trump’s call to temporarily suspend immigration from countries where terrorist influence and impact represents a threat to the United States … Building the wall, establishing border security, has to be job one.” [Politico; 7/15/16]
- Trump: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists” [Yahoo!, 7/6/15]
They each want to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood and health care services for nearly 26,000 women in Virginia’s 10th District
- Comstock has voted five times to defund Planned Parenthood and voted for a select committee to investigate Planned Parenthood, stating that she only voted to keep the government from shutting down to keep focus on investigating Planned Parenthood. [Vote #505, 9/18/15; Vote #504, 9/18/15; Vote #527, 9/30/15; 10/7/15; Vote #568, 10/23/15; Vote #6, 1/6/16; The Washington Post, 9/24/15]
- Pence, as a Congressman, “launched Republicans’ war on Planned Parenthood,” and stated that he was willing to shut down the federal government to defund the women’s health organization. [Vox, 7/14/15]
- Trump told supporters at a rally, “Well, they don’t want Planned Parenthood funded, and I think a lot of people understand that, including me.” [Fusion, 10/12/15]
Comstock, Pence and Trump want to overturn Roe v. Wade
- Comstock: “Roe v. Wade should be overturned” [MSNBC, 10/16/08]
- Pence: “I long for the day that Roe v. Wade is sent to the ash heap of history.” [Speech to U.S. House of Representatives; 2/18/2011]
- Trump, speaking on the O’Reilly Factor, voiced his support for overturning Roe v. Wade, and argued that he will protect the “sanctity of life.” “I will protect it, and the biggest way you can protect it is through the Supreme Court and putting people on the court. Actually, the biggest way you can protect it, I guess, is by electing me president.” [Fox News, 5/10/16]
Pence and Comstock both worked for far right, anti-choice group the Susan B. Anthony List, who celebrated Trump’s hiring of former Jesse Helms staffer John Mashburn as a top policy advisor as “a huge pro-life hire”
The Susan B. Anthony list believes “no abortion exceptions for rape or incest victims”; their president declared that “all abortion—including those for victims of rape and incest—is murder” and the practice is as repugnant at slavery.
- Comstock: In 2007, the Mitt Romney for President Campaign announced Barbara Comstock, “a co-chair [along with Cesar Conda] to the Susan B. Anthony List,” would advise the campaign on “Faith and Family Values Issues.” [Romney Campaign Press Release, 9/6/07]
- Pence: As Governor of Indiana, Pence promised Susan B. Anthony List he would uphold the “pro-life pledge” he signed and would sponsor or co-sponsor their legislative agenda. [New Republic, 7/11/11]
- Trump hired John Mashburn as a top advisor, a move Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser heralded as a “an excellent hire, especially for the pro-life movement and our legislative priorities.” [The Pulse, 5/3/2016]
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