INDIANAPOLIS — New reporting Friday morning by the Indiana Capital Chronicle shows Republican far-right lieutenant governor candidate Micah Beckwith has launched an “advisory council” that mixes state government and Beckwith’s own religion.
The proposed board could be funded with state taxpayer dollars if Beckwith is elected, and likely leaves out Hoosier employers like Salesforce, Eli Lilly, Cummins, and others who credit diversity as a key factor in their success. This only makes it harder to recruit and retain the best talent in Indiana.
Beckwith believes those who attacked the capital on January 6th were sent by God, and that Hoosiers who disagree with him on reproductive freedom are “vile”, “demonic”, and compared them to “wife beaters”
He also makes clear that he believes Indiana’s abortion ban doesn’t go far enough, and he wants to the see the exceptions for rape and incest removed, forcing victims to carry to term. Beckwith has also compared states without an abortion ban to those who allowed slavery.
The report makes clear that Beckwith would only be appointing members to this board who “share Micah Beckwith’s values”, and “align” with his specific beliefs.
Beckwith said his advisory council was set up in “coordination” with running mate Mike Braun. Hoosiers should be worried about who’s really calling the shots in a Braun-Beckwith administration.
“Micah Beckwith is building his own echo chamber of “experts” who will only encourage his efforts to ban books statewide, criminalize abortion, and push extreme policies on Hoosiers,” said Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl. “This is another example that Mike Braun can’t control his running mate, and will allow Beckwith to push a separate agenda for state government from the LG’s office that is a deterrent to retaining and attracting new talent to Indiana.
“Hoosiers deserve a state government focused on the important issues: education, childcare, housing, wage growth, and healthcare. Beckwith and Braun are only promising chaos and more culture war distractions. The contrast couldn’t be clearer with the commonsense agenda of Jennifer McCormick and Terry Goodin who know no Hoosier should work full-time and live in poverty, women should control their bodies, and every family should have access to a quality public education.”
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