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NEW YORK – U.S. Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois, speaking at a rally Saturday night with former President Donald Trump, described the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade as a “victory for white life.”
Miller’s spokesman said the Illinois Republican intended to say the decision was a victory for the “right to life.” The line as delivered was out of line with the disproportionate impact that the repeal of abortion rights will have on women of color.
Miller is running for re-election in the newly redesigned 15th District of the state Congress against Republican Rep. Rodney Davis with the blessing of the former president. She had been invited on stage to speak for Trump, who held the rally in Mendon, Illinois, for the vote ahead of Tuesday’s state primaries.
“President Trump, on behalf of all MAGA patriots in America, I want to thank you for the historic victory of white life yesterday in the Supreme Court,” he said, garnering applause from the crowd.
Miller’s spokesman Isaiah Wartman told The Associated Press it was “a mixture of words.”
“You can clearly see in the video … he’s looking at his papers and looking at his speech,” Wartman said.
Her campaign noted that she is the grandmother of several non-white grandchildren, including one with Down syndrome.
The first-year congresswoman, who was one of the people who voted to annul the results of the 2020 election, was previously criticized for quoting Adolf Hitler.
“Hitler was right about one thing. He said, ‘Whoever has the youth has the future,'” Miller said in a speech last year, according to the video released by WCIA-TV. He later apologized after Democrats of Illinois demanded his resignation.
The demonstration came when some elements of the far right have pushed for the “great substitution theory,” a racist ideology that alleges that whites and their influence are being “replaced” by people of color. Advocates blame both immigration and demographic changes, including white birth rates.
During the rally, Trump made a comeback victory for the grand Supreme Court ruling on Friday that ended the constitutional right to abortion. The three Conservative magistrates he appointed voted in favor.
He noted that in 2016 he pledged to appoint judges who would oppose the right to abortion.
“Yesterday the court dictated a victory for the Constitution, a victory for the rule of law, and most of all, a victory for life,” he told the crowd, which erupted in a chant of “thank you Trump!”
Trump at the rally also supported Republican Darren Bailey, who is running to become the party’s candidate for governor.
For full AP coverage of the Supreme Court ruling on abortion, go to