During the current election season, it behooves LGBTQ+ voters to carefully study the candidates in every race. This is particularly the case regarding Republican candidates, given that the modern GOP is so thoroughly dominated by the MAGA wing, known for their virulently anti-gay, anti-trans and anti-women positions.
However, not every Republican is MAGA—yet talk of traditional Republicanism is too often a smokescreen behind which can lurk positions that would be right at home in the GOP’s fascist manifesto Project 2025. Such is the case with Aaron Bashir, the Republican running against Democratic incumbent Brendan Boyle for the U.S. House, PA Dist. 2, which comprises much of northeast Philadelphia.
Bashir immigrated from Pakistan to the U.S. in 2001, acquiring American citizenship in 2006. In the bio on his campaign website, Bashir describes himself first and foremost as “a proud Christian.” It is in this biography that the nature of his faith is made abundantly clear: “In the year 1999, Aaron was diagnosed with a severe Aplastic Anemia, a life-threatening disease of blood that required bone marrow transplant. However, in the absence of a bone marrow transplant facility in Pakistan when his family lacked financial and medical resources for his treatment, he was miraculously healed by the supernatural power of the good Lord Jesus.”
Bashir constantly reiterates in his public statements that his conservative Christian beliefs guide his public policy positions. When asked in an Epoch Times interview what his legislative priorities would be, if elected, he responded, “I would prioritize a return to the Judeo-Christian values upon which the Country was founded.” He went on to say he would “endeavor to protect the Constitution.” Like most conservative Christian Republicans, the fact that it’s the Constitution that mandates the separation of church and state seems to escape him.
However, conservative public piety is a trope long associated with traditional Republicanism, and Bashir also holds a number of positions that could define him as a conservative alternative to MAGA extremism. Among those positions are:
- He is anti-abortion.
- He does not support government funding for affordable housing programs.
- He does not support the forgiveness of federal student loan debt.
- He does not support government funding for renewable energy.
- He supports increased drilling on public lands.
- He does not support gun control legislation.
And he frequently couches the rhetoric for these positions in terms of a “common sense” approach to governing, trying to come across as non-extremist.
But a closer look at Bashir’s record and affiliations raises a number of red flags, most prominently being that he has been endorsed by the Philadelphia chapter of Moms for Liberty. Moms for Liberty is an extremist right-wing group known for aggressively pursuing an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda, relentlessly seeking to ban LGBTQ+ and DEI-themed books from school and public libraries.
He has also been endorsed by the Family Research Council, another extremist far-right advocacy organization with a long history of pursuing an aggressive antigay and anti-trans agenda under the guise of “family values.”
It is also notable that in 2022, Bashir received a 92% rating from the NRA, up sharply from 2020, when they rated him at 67%. This indicates a significant rightward evolution in his position on gun control issues.
In this era where the Supreme Court has elevated the president above the law, it is notable that Bashir supports protecting government officials, including law enforcement officers, from personal liability in civil lawsuits concerning alleged misconduct. But perhaps the most concerning to LGBTQ+ voters might be his rhetoric involving schools and education, revealing a deep-seeded homophobia that is expressed in the most blatant MAGA terms. He believes that “woke ideology” and “gender confusion” is damaging schools and students. In an interview with the Epoch Times, he has been quoted as saying outright, “LGBTQ propaganda is destroying our schools.”
In the final analysis, for all his “common sense” talk, it’s clear that Aaron Bashir shares more with the MAGA movement than he is perhaps willing to admit.