Photo by Gage Skidmore
Minnesota representative and Republican Crazy Caucus chairwoman Michele Bachmann recently amused us all with a loopy conspiracy theory claiming that Hillary Clinton had signed a United Nations resolution that would criminalize free speech.
The theory may be completely unfounded, but it is actually not that unusual for a staunch right-winger. Although many Republicans love to mock the U.N. as a weak, feckless organization, paranoid conspiracy theories about the U.N. are nonetheless a cottage industry in the Republican Party. Peddling this brand of paranoia has fueled the careers of elected officials, pundits, and even one former U.N. ambassador.
Here are five Republican politicians who actively promote some of the wildest conspiracy theories about the United Nations:
Rick Santorum
Former Pennsylvania senator and Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum returned to prominence in early December by leading the charge to prevent the ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities.
Although the convention was largely based on the Americans with Disabilities Act, Santorum — himself the parent of a special-needs child — successfully convinced Senate Republicans that the treaty would somehow lead to forced abortions and a ban on home-schooling for disabled children.
Photo by Gage Skidmore
Ron Paul
Before gaining a cult-like following as a candidate for the Republican presidential nominations in 2008 and 2012, Paul spent years peddling extremist conspiracy theories about race wars, “malicious gays,” and the impending United Nations invasion.
In one particularly unhinged video for the ultra-right-wing John Birch Society, Paul warned that the United Nations plans to burn all churches that don’t submit to the “anti-Christian attitude of the almighty” U.N. government.
Photo credit: AP/Robert Bukaty, File
John Cornyn
Texas senator John Cornyn is one of many Republicans who believes that the United Nations is coming for your guns. In November, the incoming minority whip told a Texas radio station that he opposes the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty because “I support American sovereignty and I’m not for outsourcing it to other people on gun control or any other issue…we’re gonna do everything we can to stop it.”
The Arms Trade Treaty — which is designed to regulate the spread of guns to war zones — does not actually restrict American sovereignty at all, and does not even contain any language regulating domestic arms sales.
Photo by Gage Skidmore
Chip Rogers And The Georgia GOP
Shortly after Election Day, Chip Rogers — the Republican majority leader of the Georgia state senate — convened his caucus for a four-hour meeting discussing President Obama’s plot to use mind control (!) to implement Agenda 21, a U.N. resolution that many Republicans (including the Republican National Committee itself) fear will eliminate property rights.
In reality, Agenda 21 is merely a non-binding framework setting loose goals to reduce communities’ carbon footprints.
Video courtesy of Better Georgia
Ted Cruz
Texas senator-elect Ted Cruz, frequently mentioned as a rising star and future presidential candidate, has a crazy Agenda 21 conspiracy of his own. According to Cruz, the resolution is really a “grand scheme” originated by George Soros, who for some reason hopes to abolish America’s “golf courses, grazing pastures, and paved roads.”
Photo by Gage Skidmore
