Why did the Conservatives spend Easter in hysteria and manufactured outrage?

If you’ve somehow managed to escape the torrent of conservative hysteria and outrage over President Biden’s Easter Egg rules, congratulations, you’ve made some truly great life choices.

For the rest of us, the noise couldn’t be missed. Conservative outlets like Fox News and the Daily Caller spent the weekend in hysterics over a flier noting 45-year-old rules about an Easter egg decorating contest. You see, the rules prohibit “objectionable content, religious symbols, overtly religious themes, or partisan political statements.”

Former President Donald Trump shared the Fox News article on Truth Social, even though the rule was also in effect during his administration. But the truth has no place here, in the conservative echo chamber of misinformation and performative outrage.

Donald Trump Jr weighed in on the show, writing on Twitter: “Biden is banning religious symbols from Easter celebrations at the White House, while waving the trans flag and declaring Easter Sunday to be ‘Trans Visibility Day.’ This is the new religion of the left. They want people to worship the trans flag instead of God. They must be stopped.”

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Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said, via a screenshot of the Fox News article on Twitter, that President Biden “bans Christian symbols from the White House Easter egg roll. Shameful.”

Newt Gingrich wouldn’t have let the moment pass without his indignant indignation:

The bottom line from all of this is that a bunch of people spent the Easter weekend lying:

And sure, liberals got very angry during the Trump administration, sometimes even about things that weren’t actually happening. But Democratic leaders and former presidents have not led the charge on business as usual. Outrage over political “disagreements,” such as the deliberate separation of families at the border, was genuine and based on principles the United States should uphold. These types of Trump policies led to a fear that then became generalized, given the constant horror of those four years.

The American Egg Board, which supports the White House Egg Roll, was forced to say in a statement reported by NBC News: “The American Egg Board has been a supporter of the White House Easter Egg Roll for more than 45 years and the language of guidelines referenced in the latest news have consistently applied to the council since its founding, across all administrations.

Even the White House had to intervene when the histrionics reached unbearable levels.

*About all the misleading swirl about the White House and Easter: The standard non-discrimination language of the American Egg Board flyer requesting artwork has been used for the last 45 years, by every Democratic and Republican administrator, for all WH Ruoli Easter Eggs, including previous administrations.

— Elizabeth Alexander (@EAlexander46) March 30, 2024

Fox News added an undated update at the end of the article, which essentially makes the entire article moot because it points out that this rule has been in place for a long time. The original article was published on March 29, and there is no notice on the article that it has been clarified or updated. Was it updated immediately or days after publication?

The title remains and is misleading at best:

Amid an episode of performative outrage over fictitious Easter egg rule changes, Republicans also spent Easter weekend attacking President Biden for honoring Transgender Visibility Day, which always falls on March 31, but this year fell on Easter Sunday.

These attacks are coordinated, which suggests that the MAGA outrage is “false and performative”:

So why did they spend Easter weekend lying about President Biden? This is a question that will apply more and more as the election heats up, so it’s worth answering clearly.

Conservatives spent Easter weekend lying about President Biden and trying to divide Americans because they cannot advance their policies, and therefore depend on pitting us against each other in every way possible.

Usually this desperation to avoid actual political discussion leads them to easily fall into a base primed to fall into racism by fueling fear of crime and “border” dog whistles. They top it all off with attacks on trans people, women, and any other vulnerable groups they may attack. Yes, this is the opposite of what they claim to represent. That is to say, this is the opposite behavior one would expect from people who claim the moral high ground because they wear a cross or sell Bibles or wrap themselves in the flag.

You will recognize them by what they do, not by what they say. As Matthew 7:15-20 warns: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.”

If you’re wondering what kind of policies could be so bad that conservatives would spend Easter weekend lying about stupid, easily debunked things like an Easter egg decorating contest, well… Anti-abortionists are actually plotting to limit in vitro fertilization:

The anti-abortion movement’s short-term goal is to calm Republicans’ political panic and prevent any legislation they see as harmful to their long-term efforts, such as the bill passed by Alabama Republican lawmakers early of this month which provides civil and criminal regulations. immunity to IVF providers for any death or damage to embryos. In the long term, they would like to regulate not only in vitro fertilization but also other reproductive technologies not yet in use, such as in vitro gametogenesis and artificial wombs.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said he expects the panic to calm down and for lawmakers to eventually adopt restrictions on IVF, such as “you’re limited to creating three embryos, instead of a dozen or something like that “. .â€

In other words, if Republicans can shift your attention from losing your medical freedom by overturning Roe to outrage over sham new regulations on Easter egg decorating, that’s a win for them.

If they can cleverly hide their true intentions to limit IVF and other reproductive technologies by focusing your attention on their outrage at the recognition of trans people on a day that also happens to be Easter, well, that’s all a win for them.

The goal is to flood the area with lies, accusations, false impeachment attempts, defamation of the president’s last name and culture wars. All of these things are intended to work on emotions. They are also effective because most people vote on emotions rather than politics. And that’s why it’s important to step back from the agitation and even indignation at the lies, to unplug from the anger and hurt, and look at what’s really happening.

When a political party cannot discuss its actual policies because they are harmful to the average person and small businesses, it will instead distract itself with culture wars and performative outrage.

This isn’t to say that conservatives aren’t actually outraged that trans people are being recognized at Easter, but rather that elites know that pointing this out will anger their base, who are already primed to focus on trans people as *the problem* .

Every time you hear a new lie or divisive culture war issue in an area meant to disenfranchise someone else, ask yourself what this politician might be hiding, what might he or she be trying to divert your attention from?

If you think the Conservatives won’t rush to vote based on a lie about Easter egg decorations, I’m sorry to tell you that’s wildly inaccurate: they will. Or rather, they will vote based on the accumulation of years of culture war lies, all of which confirm pre-existing biases. They won’t look into their wallets to ask questions about a party whose financial policies serve elites first, with a deceptive short-term ceiling for workers like Trump’s tax cuts, because they’ve been groomed to fall in line with the Republican version of Jesus (i.e., an evil, hateful person who divides people) and to the Republican version of the United States, which is a country that closes its borders to all non-whites, is isolationist and defensive, and ultimately , will not give up its superpower to close itself down and make way for President Putin.

The Easter Weekend of Lies was coordinated, it was performative, it was a spectacle intended to distract you voters from reality.

And that’s why we can’t have nice things anymore. Easter eggs have also been politicized and attacked by conservatives.

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