Forty years ago, when the right wing was first ascendant in this country, the nation was introduced to some exotic characters the likes of which most of us hadn’t seen before: Jerry Falwell Sr.; Pat Robertson; Newt Gingrich; even people like Illinois Representative Henry Hyde, who at the time seemed about as ideologically extreme as you could get. Surely they couldn’t go any lower than that. Well, here we are 40 years on, and it just gets lower. Some of the Republicans in the House of Representatives today make Henry Hyde look like Hubert Humphrey. And the horrors extend well outside the halls of Congress, to the states and the right-wing media bubble and beyond. So The New Republic thought the time was right for a stocktaking. Who are the worst of the worst? Who’s the most dangerous senator?
Which House member is the biggest threat to democratic order?
Which governor is most irresponsibly putting his or her state’s people at risk?
Who mounted the most shameless defense of the January 6 insurrection?
Which Fox News host is the most despicable? (OK, we probably know that one, so who’s the second most despicable?)
Who’s the most obnoxious and unscrupulous Twitter star?
Who’s the most flagrant racist?
And, of course, who is the worst Trump? (We know that one, too, so we added a “Second Worst Trump.”)
This readers’ poll is meant to be fun. But its point is also serious. Everybody on the list is doing enormous damage to our country. We want to know which ones you think are the worst of the worst. We’ll keep the voting open on our website for three weeks, and then we’ll publish the results, along with how the TNR staff voted, in our November issue. Have at it.
Poll closes September 21st.
Stay tuned for results in the November issue.
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