Ted Budd: Yellow Journalist and Danger to N.C.

Harley Woods | November 30, 2022


 After the poles closed on Nov. 8 for the 2022 midterm elections, NBC News projected that Ted Budd won the race for U.S. senate in N.C. 

A gun store owner and self-proclaimed “liberal agenda crusher,” Budd supports stricter law enforcement and foreign policy in addition to restricting reproductive healthcare for those with uteruses. 

Budd co-sponsored the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (rejected by the U.S. Senate 56-41-3) as well as the H.R.816 Life at Conception Act. Budd also seeks to tighten the current restrictions on the abortion ban in N.C., limiting the window of access from 20 weeks to 15 weeks without exceptions for those who suffered rape or incest. 

The very first words that appear on Budd’s website are “family man” — a family man who is committed to enforcing those with uteruses to birth the products of incestuous abuse. 

Budd’s voting history showcases his priorities more honestly than his website. 

Budd voted “nay” on the passage of the bill H.R. 7780 Mental Health Matters Act which was meant to increase access to mental and behavioral healthcare. The bill would also create grants intended to increase K-12 mental health service providers and require higher education institutions to support students with disabilities. 

These mental health services that Budd rejects — including the mental health care services in K-12 schools — are necessary to some young individuals who become pregnant. Children as young as nine or ten years old begin menstruation and puberty, meaning that at their very first period, there is a chance of pregnancy. 

Legislation such as the Mental Health Matters Act would increase the likelihood that victims of in-school gun violence — like those one month ago in Raleigh — would have reliable support in schools after mass shootings occur: statistics show that they will continue to occur

This act, in addition to other legislation devoted to mental health, would be a meaningful step towards Budd’s statement that the state should be  “keeping firearms out of the hands of dangerous individuals while still protecting the Second Amendment.” 

Budd’s vote of “nay” on H.Res.1377 directly contradicts his campaign. The resolution included contingencies that would authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services “to build safer, thriving communities and save lives by investing in effective community-based violence reduction initiatives.”

The resolution also included the explicit intention to direct the Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services of the DOJ to carry out a grant program to provide assistance to police departments with fewer than 200 law enforcement officers. 

Despite claiming to support law enforcement, this rejection is documented in Budd’s voting history and is a direct contradiction of his campaign platform and personal values. 

Additionally, Budd voted no on the passage of H.R.4118: Break the Cycle of Violence Act. The bill “directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants for coordinated community violence intervention initiatives in communities disproportionately impacted by homicides and community violence.” 

Budd’s actions show that he is more invested in voter-appealing buzzwords than solving the issues he claims to care about.

His website displays messages such as “stop Biden’s woke, socialist agenda.” The term woke has been weaponized against young activists as a way to dismiss the importance of social justice and promoting equity in American culture and society. 

Budd has received support from the American Principles PAC, the Fight Back American PAC and the Legacy PAC. 

The Fight Back America PAC website displays images from the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. In light of this, Budd’s touting of his endorsement by this PAC is dangerous as a now-elected member of the U.S. Senate. 

The election of Budd shows that republican voters — and Budd himself — are more concerned with antagonizing President Biden than striving to build upon democratic values and maintain a functioning society. Budd’s policies and voting record cast a grim shadow on the fates of N.C. constituents. 

For the next six years, N.C. will continue to observe the outcomes of electing a political official who engages in yellow journalism and buzzword-propaganda.

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