How Extremist Republicans Have Reframed Politics In Idaho

The NPR Politics Podcast

NPR

Politics, Daily News, News

4.5 • 24.9K Ratings

🗓️ 11 April 2022

⏱️ 14 minutes

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Summary

Far-right activists and a militia figure are a major force in the state's Republican politics, where even orthodox conservatives like Gov. Brad Little are described by opponents as "too liberal." Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin, who has cozied up to white nationalists, is running to unseat him. Now, a group called Take Back Idaho is raising money in an uphill fight to push far-right Republicans out of power.

This episode: congressional correspondent Susan Davis, national correspondent Kirk Siegler, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Holly Grace calling from Modesto, California. I'm currently driving home after a very long week
0:06.5	providing behavioral health services to youth and young adults experiencing homelessness.
0:11.6	Today, I was excited to congratulate four of our young adults as they move from our low barrier
0:17.1	shelter into transitional housing. This podcast was recorded at 12.19 pm Eastern on Monday,
0:25.3	April 11th. Things may have changed by the time you hear it. Okay, enjoy the show.
0:34.4	Wow, she's doing really good work. That's amazing an important work, really. Hey there,
0:38.6	it's the MPR Politics Podcast. I'm Susan Davis, I cover Congress. I'm Dominican Montenar,
0:43.2	Senior Political Editor and Correspondent. And today we've got MPR's Kirk Sealer with us,
0:47.9	who covers many, many things for MPR, including politics in the Northwest. Hey Kirk. Hey guys.
0:54.4	So you have some new reporting out of your home state of Idaho, where a group of more centrist
1:00.0	Republicans are trying to defeat a number of far right extremist candidates on the ballot in
1:06.1	this year's midterms. So let's just take a step back. Could you talk about what the environment has
1:12.4	been like in Idaho that has allowed some more extremist candidates to even get a foothold in
1:18.4	state politics? Well, I think, yeah, historically, the listeners will know that Idaho has always been
1:25.2	associated with extremism, political extremes. You know, just think back in recent Ishtimes to the
1:31.5	1990s, the standoff at Ruby Ridge and other militias in the Northern Panhandle and White
1:38.0	Supremacist groups and Aryan Nations groups. But I think what's new is these extremes have lately
1:45.1	entered the actual Republican party and are in elected positions there on school boards,
1:52.0	they're even on library boards, particularly in the Northern Panhandle of the state. And I would
1:57.2	say this really started happening in earnest after the Trump election and even more so right
2:04.5	around the beginning of the pandemic. You have a lieutenant governor in the state that is openly
2:10.9	touting her ties to the Idaho 3% militias. You have a number of other candidates for office who
	...

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