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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has accused the Republican Party of trying to turn the United States into a far-right theocracy. She made the accusation in a series of tweets, one of which reads:

“What angers me about the GOP’s attempts to turn the United States into a far-right Christian theocracy is how dishonest they are about it. At least be forthright about your desire to subvert and dismantle our democracy into a creepy theological order led by a mad king.”

But here’s the thing about AOC’s claim: it’s a baseless scare tactic. See this clip, for example, in which Frank Zappa made the same claim in 1985.

It’s hard to deny that the Republican Party-evangelical alliance has led to evangelical-friendly legislation. But that’s not theocracy––that’s democracy. The Republican party is simply better at courting the religious vote, which makes them successful. It’s not at all clear that their laws are violations of the constitutional prohibition on religious establishment, nor is it clear that they are violating the separation of church and state––which, by the way, is not strictly established in the Constitution to the extent that AOC seems to think. Instead, these laws reflect the will of the voters. If Democrats don’t like it, then they should work harder to court the religious vote.

More politics.