Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) on Thursday accused “the angry feminist movement” of emasculating men and said the U.S. should “work our way back” to 1960 if former President Donald Trump wins in November.
In a House floor speech that could have been lifted from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Grothman went after supporters of government-funded childcare programs and said President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty “took the purpose out of the man’s life, because now you have a basket of goodies for the mom.” He added, “They’ve taken away the purpose of the man to be part of a family. And if we want to get America back to, say, 1960, where this was almost unheard of, we have to fundamentally change these programs.”
Grothman said “the breakdown of the family” was caused by the U.S. government in the 1960s and “people like Angela Davis, well-known communist, people like the feminists who were so important in the 1960s.”
“So I hope the press corps picks up on this, and I hope Republican and Democrat leadership put together some sort of plan for January, in which we work our way back to where America was in the 1960s,” he added.
Grothman, a fervent supporter of Trump, hailed the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, saying after the decision: “Over the years, millions of children have had their dreams stolen before seeing the light of the day. But today marks a brighter future for the hearts and minds of unborn children, women, and families.
“I commend the six justices who voted to overturn Roe for having the courage to base their decision on sound legal principles rather than a fashionable line of thinking that rules academia, Hollywood, and the mainstream media.”
Grothman’s comments Thursday sounded eerily similar to the central theme of The Handmaid’s Tale—that women are subordinate to men and should take on domestic and subservient roles, and that their worth is tied to becoming mothers. Since the overturning of Roe, the women of Atwood’s fictional “Republic of Gilead” have become a battle cry for feminists who have donned the white bonnet and red cloak of the handmaids as they protest against the Supreme Court’s decision.
After Roe was overturned, Atwood took to Instagram to post a picture of her holding a coffee mug that read, “I told you so.” After coming under criticism for the post, the author wrote on X: “When HandmaidsTale came out in 85, there was disbelief. I thought a religious-right takeover was possible in the U.S., and was Crazy Margaret. Premature, but unfortunately too close. That doesn’t make me happy.”
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