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Two years ago, “Republican” leaders in the South Carolina House of Representatives booted fiscally conservative members from the GOP caucus because they refused to betray the limited government, lower tax planks of the party platform. “Republican” leaders like speaker Murrell Smith, ways and means chairman Bruce Bannister and judiciary chairman Weston Newton have continued to target these lawmakers, incidentally.
This week, many of these same “Republican” leaders compelled their colleagues to resign from the chamber’s leading social conservative caucus – claiming it had “become a vehicle for factionalism.”
Like lemmings, more than two dozen of them did as they were instructed…
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What’s really driving the mass exodus from the S.C. Family Caucus?
Hurt feelings.
And fear.
Smith, Newton and other ranking “Republicans” were called out last month by a national pro-life group for their failure to advance a bill many of them sponsored, H. 3457 – a.k.a. the ‘Human Life Protection Act.’ The group, Students for Life Action, was instrumental in ousting a trio of state senators last year who were insufficiently loyal to the pro-life cause.
Three of those former “sister” senators – Penry Gustafson, Sandy Senn and Katrina Shealy – lost their GOP primary elections last June in large part due to their votes on the abortion issue.
Rather than vent their frustration at the group in question, “Republican” leaders insisted the chairman of the Family Caucus – state representative John McCravy – publicly condemn its tactics. McCravy refused to do so, which has spawned all manner of recrimination against him.
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At a press conference held in the S.C. State House on Wednesday (May 7, 2025), the president of Students for Life Action made it abundantly clear her group had only just begun to fight.
“South Carolina House leadership, you have failed to act,” said Kristan Hawkins. “You have failed to protect South Carolina women, you have failed to protect South Carolina babies. And no more. Your constituents will know what you did just like these three sister senators who are now former senators.”
“Your constituents will know how you betrayed them,” Hawkins continued. “They will know how you attacked fellow GOP members because they were brave enough to stand for pre-born babies.”
“The pro-life generation will be watching,” Hawkins concluded. “And we don’t forget.”
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"Now this is a national issue" Students for Life Action president Kristian Hawkins warns "sister" speaker Murrell Smith in an interview with FITSNews founding editor @TheWillFolks…
— FITSNews (@fitsnews) May 7, 2025
Stay tuned for full coverage of the South Carolina abortion schism. @KristanHawkins pic.twitter.com/TXlSGjCnAu
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Of interest? Numerous GOP lawmakers who abandoned the Family Caucus this week were also listed as sponsors of the ‘Human Life Protection Act,’ including outgoing majority leader Davey Hiott, speaker pro tempore Tommy Pope and rank-and-file members Bobby Cox, Doug Gilliam, Patrick Haddon, Jeff Johnson, Jay Jordan, Randy Ligon, Cody Mitchell, David Vaughn, Mark Willis and Richie Yow, to name just a few.
To recap: all of these lawmakers – and several others with conveniently poor penmanship – went on record abandoning a group whose only crime was refusing to publicly condemn a national pro-life organization for supporting a pro-life bill.
Once again, a bill all of them – and their thin-skinned leaders – sponsored.
What sort of internal contorting/cognitive dissonance is required to make that logic make sense?
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Wherever you fall on the issue of abortion, these “Republicans” got caught playing the timeless State House game of pretending they were for something… without actually being for it.
“They introduce these bills to shut people up and then they just sit on them,” one keen Palmetto political observer noted.
Indeed… and when they got called out on their duplicity they got pissed and threw a hissy fit.
“If House leaders had no interest in advancing new abortion restrictions this session – they shouldn’t have been lead sponsors on a bill seeking to advance them,” I noted last week. “Nor should they have made promises to advance such legislation to pro-life lawmakers – and then reneged on their word. Furthermore, GOP leaders shouldn’t be remotely surprised that national groups which support abortion restrictions are upset at their failure to advance this legislation – and are voicing their displeasure.”
And will continue to voice their displeasure, from what it sounds like…
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As Hawkins and other pro-life allies held forth against GOP leaders, McCravy found himself on the receiving end of fresh allegations related to insensitive comments he is purported to have made. As we reported last week, Hiott accused McCravy of calling state representative Beth Bernstein a “Jew” and former state representative (and current state senator) Jason Elliott a “gay” during a meeting last year.
FITSNews has since learned that McCravy has also been accused of using the “N-word” during a recent conversation with a reporter at the S.C. State House. Conveniently, this alleged slur was said to have been made at the precise moment the reporter turned off their recording device.
Aside from Hiott, no one has gone on the record at this point confirming either allegation – although we did speak with a State House source this week who claimed to have “directly overheard” McCravy make the comment about Jews and homosexuals last year.
We will certainly continue to investigate those allegations while we follow the broader debate related to the ideological moorings of the S.C. House “Republican” Caucus – to the extent any such moorings can be located.
As the owner and founding editor of this media outlet, I have made my personal views on the abortion issue abundantly clear over the years. I believe life is the “indispensable liberty” – and that it begins at conception. Still, this news outlet is home to many differing views on this subject – and I have previously gone on the record opposing several of the provisions of H. 3457.
Divergent views are not only welcome at FITSNews, but it is my intention for this media outlet to continue serving as a place where anyone with an intelligent take on any issue can come to share their perspectives within our space in the marketplace of ideas.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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7 comments
All these Republicans are fake Christians. Now I use the word “fake” loosely, because I don’t know how many, like Trump, are just fakers and how many of them are so clueless as to what Christ taught and the Bible actually says that they think they are Christians, when they are really members of a made up sect that calls itself Christian. They don’t really stand for anything except the rules and teachings they have made up. This is what allows them to support a man like Trump, when he is absolutely the least Christian man to ever occupy the White House. It allows them to ignore things like Trump’s “spiritual advisor” who like Trump and so many of his Cabinet has had affairs and who sells blessings for $1000 a pop.
You can’t have it both ways folks. Either you love your neighbor, love the sinner, put people over money, love all life unborn or born, innocent or guilty, welcome the stranger to your land, feed the hungry, heal the sick, forgive those who wrong you; or you hate the brown people coming to “your country”, pay foreign countries to imprison people in concentrations camps, carry out vengeance against your perceived enemies, believe God rewards people with money and power and that the poor get what they deserve, turn away the stranger, and let innocent people (particularly children) die from disease and starvation so that you can afford to pay for all the luxuries God has given you as a reward for being “Christian” and persecuting those you see as sinners or who don’t belong. Or maybe you believe you can get around all of this by paying Trump’s spiritual advisor $1000 for a blessing.
So how can we tell the faker from the gullible morons who think they are following the teachings of Christ? Its hard but here is one example of a faker.
Yesterday Pete Hegseth, said he and his wife Jenny pray together every morning. Jenny is wife #3, who was married to someone else when she had Hegseth’s baby, while he was also married to someone else. During the overlap, Hegseth had sex with a young girl who accused him of rape. He did not deny the sex, he said it was consensual, but he paid her off and made her sign an NDA. This was right after Jenny had his baby.
Yet here you are sitting in judgement of others actions, how do you know they are fake? God grants forgiveness not you. How do you know he didn’t forgive every one of their transgressions. You are no better than the scribes and Pharisees who sat in judgement of Jesus thinking he was beneath them. Try some introspection before you throw stones.
Haha. What the hell? Did you really write this? Pretty sure you have sat in judgment of many issues here. And even worse, decided that you and your kind are the granters of forgiveness. Grab a mirror.
The Bible says, “Judge not lest ye be judged”. But those who love to judge always hate being judged by others. These fake Christians have done plenty of judging, so they now need to be in the spotlight. The truth is, you can tell the fakes because they don’t change. To be forgiven, you must repent and ask for forgiveness. These folks continue to support a man who has openly said he has never asked Christ for forgiveness for anything.
The Trump administration is filled with people who are greedy, immoral, unethical, and wholly without concern for the poor, the hungry, the sick, the homeless, and the oppressed; and they are proud of it. They say anyone who cares about those things is “WOKE.” Their spiritual leaders live in multi-million-dollar homes, fly around in private jets, and take lavish salaries, all funded by taking contributions from people who live on social security or who live paycheck to paycheck, and can barely afford food and medicine. They worship a man who sits around on gold-gilded furniture and complains his private jet is not luxurious enough, his ballroom is not big enough, and that he needs a 50-million-dollar parade for his birthday. Well, let me wake you up to something: Jesus Christ was the most woke person in the history of the world, and he is nothing like any of these people. Can’t you see that these people are the leaders of the temple, who had Christ killed for his “woke” teachings?
There is only one description of Judgement Day in the Bible. Matthew 25: 31-46. Read that and see what God will be looking at come Judgement Day.
Thank you Mark
The Audacity of Hypocrisy: When “Family,” “Freedom,” and “Life” Groups Can’t Handle the Truth
The stench of hypocrisy is thick in the air these days, particularly when observing the antics of certain self-proclaimed moral authorities. It’s a classic case of the pot calling the kettle a shade so black it absorbs all light. I’m talking about the Family Caucus, the Freedom Caucus, and Students for Life – three groups that seem to excel at dishing out lies, insults, and blatant campaign trash, but crumble at the mere whisper of truth directed their way.
Let’s start with the so-called “Freedom” Caucus. This faction, often led by individuals with more baggage than a discount airline, loudly proclaims its dedication to protecting children from the moment of conception. Yet, the cognitive dissonance is staggering. How can you claim to champion the vulnerable unborn while, if the whispers and allegations are true, turning a blind eye – or worse – to the exploitation and abuse of children who have already drawn their first breath? Their concern for the young appears to have a glaring loophole: once they’re born, it seems, anything goes. Abuse them, neglect them, even allegedly participate in the horrific trade of child pornography – the silence from this “freedom” loving bunch is deafening.
Then we have the “Family” Caucus, a group seemingly determined to drag us back to a dystopian novel where women are stripped of their autonomy. They hurl accusations at hardworking women who advocate for the health and well-being of themselves and their children, simply because these women don’t subscribe to some archaic, controlling ideology. Apparently, in their world, the idea of a woman making informed healthcare decisions with her doctor is an abomination, while the specter of rape and incest is something to be “cured” rather than condemned outright. The sheer audacity of this stance is breathtaking.
And finally, Students for Life. Oh, the tangled web of contradictions! This group, which has a history of aggressive tactics like distributing gruesome imagery, slashing tires, and disrupting church services, now seems to have found a new target: transgender individuals. The irony wouldn’t be lost on anyone with a basic understanding of human diversity, especially considering the whispers about the sexual orientations within their own membership. It’s a glaring double standard, a testament to the selective outrage that seems to fuel their agenda.
Let’s be clear: I’m not condoning any form of extremism or harmful behavior. But the blatant hypocrisy on display here is infuriating. You cannot relentlessly attack others with falsehoods and vitriol and then feign victimhood when the truth, however uncomfortable, is finally spoken.Representative McCravy, your recent public lamentations reek of this very hypocrisy. Three Republican women in similar positions faced electoral defeat without resorting to the kind of public whining you’ve engaged in. Take a page from their book and learn some resilience. You and some Senate colleagues spent considerable resources spreading misinformation about me, yet I didn’t descend into public grievance. I stood my ground, advocating for what I believed in, regardless of the personal cost.
This isn’t about political maneuvering; it’s about the lives and well-being of real people. It’s about demanding accountability from men and expecting women to stand in solidarity, not to throw their own sisters to the wolves for the approval of those who would seek to control them. The time for selective outrage and blatant hypocrisy is over. The truth, however inconvenient, has a way of shining a light on the darkness.
Katrina Shealy
While I Breathe
None of them care about representing their constituents