Christina Bohannan called patriotism sensitive in resurfaced writings

Christina Bohannan warned in 2021 that Iowa would become a “backwater” if lawmakers barred transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports. Iowa enacted the ban in 2022. (Credit: YouTube/City of Iowa City – April 2, 2021)

An Iowa Democrat seeking to flip one of the nation’s most competitive House seats in a rematch described patriotism as “sensitive and controversial” while also questioning the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance in a recently resurfaced newsletter she published in the weeks after the January 6 Capitol riot.

[snip]

“I acknowledge that patriotism is a sensitive and controversial subject,” Bohannan wrote in a 2021 newsletter put out by her State House office, while saying she remains patriotic herself.

[snip]

Bohannan wrote that the right viewpoint is to “not cede patriotism to anyone” but instead restore its definition as a belief in “democratic ideals of America and a willingness to fight to make those ideals a reality.”

Bohannan went on to critique a February 2021 Republican-led bill, which ultimately passed, requiring the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public and certain private schools.

Bohannan’s campaign manager, Dan Driscoll, told Fox News Digital that “Christina absolutely stands by her vote to require the pledge of allegiance in Iowa schools and her passionate defense of patriotism and the greatness of our country and democracy.”

[snip]

The bill passed 91-3-6 with Bohannan in favor, but she wrote about her reservations in the same newsletter.

“It was clear that many of our Democratic members in swing districts would risk their seats for voting ‘no’ on this bill,” Bohannan wrote. “And even if those members voted for it, they would still be held accountable if other members of our caucus voted ‘no’. That is how deep the concept of patriotism runs.”

“But we can reframe the issue in a way that is true to our values.”

Bohannan said in floor remarks at the time that she supported the bill not because she wanted children to “mechanically” recite the oath but because she wanted to give them the opportunity to “think critically” about the words they are saying and whether the U.S. is “living up to them.”

[snip]

“Bohannan and her DSA allies are free to call loving America ‘controversial,’ but they have no business representing Iowa,” Miller-Meeks said.

Christina Bohannan, candidate for Iowa’s first congressional district, listens during a roundtable on affordable housing Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Iowa City Press-Citizen)

[snip]

Bohannan warned against a bill prohibiting diversity and “implicit bias” training at schools and universities statewide, calling the Hawkeye State potentially “backward” if it passed.

The district, which includes Davenport and Iowa City, home to the University of Iowa, is competing with Rep. Zach Nunn’s district to the west for the distinction of being the most competitive in the state.

(*) Full article: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/battleground-dem-called-patriotism-sensitive-controversial-debate-pledge-allegiance