Gunn: Democrats under Biden embracing socialism across country

A “new brand of Democrats” who are embracing socialism was the focus of House Speaker Philip Gunn address at the Neshoba County Fair last week.

He took the podium at the Pavillion Thursday concerned about the direction the nation is taking under the President Joe Biden.

“I grow increasingly concerned every day with the direction this country is going,” Gunn said, adding he believes the Democrat Party is embracing Socialism.

He said during his last visit to speak at the Fair in 2019, he warned about Alexandria Ocasia Cortez and said that in the past three years she has increasingly come to represent the new brand of Democrats who “embrace Socialism.”

“Today, three years later, she is simply known as AOC, and she has become a national figure,” Gunn said. “The nation’s embrace of socialism has only gotten worse since then.”

Gunn said the more Democrats have embraced socialism the more poisonous their rhetoric has become.

“Their politics seems to be based on animosity toward this country and animosity toward each other,” Gunn said. “Their slogan appears to be a charity to none and malice toward all. They continue to push an us vs. them agenda and it will destroy our country.”

Gunn said the state Legislature has accomplished a lot in the past three years.

“We didn’t trash our state,” Gunn said of how the Legislature accomplished so much. “We didn’t trash each other. We didn’t trash the free enterprise system. Instead, we reached out, we brought people together. We built coalitions. That’s the Mississippi way. In Mississippi, we know we cannot succeed by hating our country or by hating our fellow countrymen. We know that we are stronger together than we are apart.”

Gunn said Mississippi's state motto is “In God We Trust,” and that it is more than just a motto.

“It is the foundation of everything that we do,” Gunn said. “We recognize that our rights come from God and that he created every one of us equal.”

Gunn called for an end to what he called “excessive unemployment benefits” due to federal unemployment benefits paid out during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot afford to pay people not to work when jobs are readily available,” Gunn said. “People are supposed to work. It is the American way.”

He also spoke against adding people to government health care, and he spoke out against teaching critical race theory in Mississippi’s schools.

“Another socialist agenda item that is being pushed is critical race theory,” Gunn said. “This is an attempt to introduce racism into our schools.”

He said Mississippians know the “devastating effects” that racism can have on society.

“That is exactly why we must fight against this attempt to re-introduce racism back into our school districts and undo all the progress that we have made,” Gunn said. “Ladies and gentlemen, we just can’t take that chance.”

Gunn said the House of Representatives will introduce legislation during the next session to prevent teaching critical race theory.