Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA05) weighs in on the “gasping rant” yesterday in the Virginia House of Delegates by Riggleman’s predecessor in the U.S. House from VA05, Tom Garrett (see below for video and a transcript). Among other things, while in the U.S. House, Tom Garrett:
- “…and his wife, Flanna, used his congressional staff for personal use, leading his chief of staff to abruptly resign. Personal use of the staff time included running errands, house sitting, chauffeuring his children, and cleaning up after their dog”
- “In March 2017, Garrett posed for a photo with Jason Kessler, one of his constituents who was an organizer of the Unite the Right rally, a far-right rally held in August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia.”
- “On May 28, 2018, [he] announced that he is an alcoholic[20] and would not seek reelection in 2018.”
- “In April 2019, Garrett and his wife, Flanna Sheridan, separated.[25] In August 2021, Sheridan filed suit in Rockingham County Circuit Court for false imprisonment, emotional distress, trespassing and civil assault, seeking $450,000 in damages[25] stemming from an attempt by Garrett to repossess a vehicle driven by Sheridan.”
Anyway, so according to former Rep. Riggleman, the speech by Garrett yesterday in the VA House of Delegates was “fantastical myth-making combined with ‘satanic panic’ and belief systems so unhinged it’s hard to put into words—made of brain cheese fried through conspiracy theories and sky talking.” Riggleman adds, “I never thought Tom would go down this hole. He needs help. Truly.”
So check out the video and transcript, below, of Garrett’s speech, in which he rails against Del. Dan Helmer’s HB333:
“Public schools; programs and courses of instruction; instruction on January 6 insurrection; requirements and limitations. Permits a school board to provide a program of instruction on or relating to the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the United States Capitol to public school students only in accordance with the requirements of the bill. The bill prohibits any such program of instruction, any accompanying curriculum or instructional materials, or any instruction provided by a teacher as a part of such program of instruction from (i) describing, portraying, or presenting as credible a description or portrayal of the actions precipitating or involved in the January 6, 2021, insurrection as peaceful protest or (ii) stating, suggesting, or presenting as credible a statement or suggestion that there was extensive election fraud that could have changed or actually changed the results of the 2020 presidential election. The bill requires any such program of instruction, any accompanying curriculum or instructional materials, or any instruction provided by a teacher as a part of such program of instruction to describe the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the United States Capitol as an unprecedented, violent attack on U.S. democratic institutions, infrastructure, and representatives for the purpose of overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election.”
According to Garrett, this bill is “evil” (he even claims that the number 333, doubled, is 666 — aka, the “number of the beast”), akin to what’s “ been done in Nazi Germany…Maoist China…the former Soviet Union,” etc. Garrett then unleashes a torrent of wild falsehoods and conspiracy theories – about 1/6/21, about what people are supposedly not allowed to say on various topics, about anthropogenic climate change, etc. Garrett concludes his tirade with a riff that begins: “you may come for my leaf blower, you may come for my 11-round magazine, you may come for my modern sporting rifle, you can come for my hair dye and my shampoo.” I mean…how did anyone vote for this person, ever? It’s truly disturbing.
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to speak today in memory of Charlie Kirk and anyone else who’s given their life standing for truth. I pray that the creator, Mr. Speaker, who made you and me in his image, gives me the strength to do justice to their legacy.
Mr. Speaker, banning leaf blowers is stupid, but it’s a foreseeable conclusion of what happens when you put Karen in charge. I rise today not to speak to that which is stupid, Mr. Speaker, but to that which is evil. If I was speaking to which was stupid, we’d be here a while. But which is evil is House Bill 333. You don’t believe me? Multiply it by two. Coincidence? I think not.
What does the bill do, Mr. Speaker? It mandates an opinion. It tells our teachers that they have to teach certain things. It takes lies, Mr. Speaker, and makes them law. And then it tests our children on their ability to recite these lies. It tells us what we’re not allowed to say, and it tells us what we must say. This has been done before, Mr. Speaker. It’s been done in Nazi Germany. It’s been done in Maoist China. It’s been been done in the former Soviet Union where they had commissars who would travel around and make sure that what you said comported with what the party allowed you to say. And I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, that historically, if you got on the wrong side of the commissar, you got on the wrong side of the dirt.
As it relates to January 6, teachers must say it was a violent insurrection. It was started by Donald Trump and it was done to overturn democracy. They can’t say these things over they were demonstrably true. There were literally, demonstrably at least 274 federal agents in the crowd who did nothing to stop it. They can’t say that the FBI director lied about it when he was asked about it and it was later revealed that he was lying. They can’t say that Donald Trump literally called on protesters to peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard. They can’t say that. They must say that it was a violent mob that attacked the Capitol. They can’t say that the Democratic DC mayor refused an offer of 10,000 National Guardsmen to help keep peace. Can’t say that.
We live in a world where we can’t say, ‘Son, I was there when you were born. and you’re a boy.’ But we must say, who am I to say whether you’re a boy or a girl? We can’t say tax increase. We must say revenue enhancement. We can’t say that people in this country illegally have literally taken the lives of thousands of Americans in DUI accidents alone. We must say that driver privilege cards help marginalized minorities. We can’t say that Laken Riley was murdered on the internet. We have to say that she was unalived. And we can’t say that the person who unalived her was an illegal immigrant. We must say that her murderer was a migrant in search of a better life. We can’t say that activity on the sun is a thousand times more impactful than all the anthropogenic climate change in the history of humankind. We must say that the anthropogenic climate change will melt the ice caps in the near future and scare the hell out of our kids. We can’t tell our kids that they and not long-dead colonizers are the most important arbiters and whether they’re happy or sad and successful or failures. We must say that our kids are either victims or beneficiaries of some systemic long deadad racist legacy.
Last year, Mr. Speaker, I heard someone say, ‘You keep Dr. King’s name out of your mouth.’ Apparently, we live in a world where I can’t say, ‘I have a dream that my children will live in a society where they’ll not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.’ Mr. Speaker, you may come for my leaf blower. You may come for my 11-round magazine. You may come for my modern sporting rifle. You can come for my hair dye and my shampoo. You can come for my duly elected member of Congress. You can come and take my life. Better people than me have died for worse things than the truth. Come and take it. What you can’t take is this. You can’t take my kids. And regardless of whether this bill passes or not, you can’t take the truth. That belongs to us. Thank you.”
