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In what feels like a callback to an ancient time of politics, a Democratic governor is attacking his Republican opponent by reminding voters he’s a Creationist who thinks humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time.
One of the benefits to living in a deeply blue state like Illinois is that statewide elections are mostly an afterthought. We have a fairly popular incumbent governor in JB Pritzker and a fairly unpopular Republican challenging him in Darren Bailey. When the two went head-to-head in 2022, Pritzker won comfortably. And because Republicans have no one on the bench eager to challenge a wealthy popular Democrat, Bailey is once again the nominee… which means Pritzker’s ads are essentially just reminding people of how batshit crazy the guy is.
One of his recent campaign ads is just a collection of Bailey’s past statements—saying he’s “pro-life” without exceptions, bragging about his AR-15, trashing LGBTQ people, etc.
Bailey’s only response to all this has been to say things like abortion is a settled issue in Illinois, so his views are irrelevant… which implies that he would gladly ban the procedure if he could, but the state’s Democratic supermajority won’t let him do it… which implies that voters should keep voting for Democrats.
But this strategy of reminding voters how extreme Bailey is hit hilarious and absurd heights last week during “Republican Day” at the Illinois State Fair when Pritzker decided to remind everyone that Bailey is also a Creationist.
In 2016, Bailey founded a private school called Full Armor Christian Academy that used textbooks from Bob Jones University Press. Those books famously say the Bible is literally true and inerrant… which is to say it promotes Young Earth Creationism… which is to say Bailey indoctrinated children into thinking humans and dinosaurs lived together. He’s off by over 65 million years. (The books also teach that slave owners were kind to the people they enslaved and it’s harmful to have women in the workforce.)
So at the fair, Pritzker had people in large inflatable dinosaur costumes running around with signs reading “dinosaurs against Darren Bailey.”
When Bailey was asked about those beliefs during an interview with WGN News, he had no good answers. If anything, he was mad anyone was asking him about his deranged Christian beliefs.
Appearing on WGN-TV’s “The Point,” Bailey was asked by the show’s host, Tahman Bradley, if he believed humans and dinosaurs coexisted. He never directly answered.
“Were you there?” Bailey responded.
“I wasn’t there,” Bradley said.
“I wasn’t either. I don’t know,” Bailey said.
The GOP gubernatorial candidate also said, “I think every day we’re learning wonderful things about history and the past.”
That’s obviously an idiotic answer. By his logic, it’s impossible to know anything that’s more than a century or two old. So Bailey was asked about it again.
Reporter: Could you comment on what they’re saying on their website, that you believe that dinosaurs and man walked the earth at the same time?
Bailey: Ask Fred Flintstone. It’s a shame that he’s doing this when Illinois is suffering. It’s absolute nonsense.
Reporter: So do you believe it though?
Bailey: It’s absolute nonsense. So Illinois is suffering with high expenses, with our safety. Our schools are failing and he’s focused on everything else besides that because he’s focused on running for president. Illinois, I hope wakes up and understands that and realizes we need something different.
And then, because that was another really idiotic answer, he was asked about it again:
Reporter: Darren there are voters who opinions will be swayed on whether people believe dinosaurs lived at the same time as humans. Do you believe it or not.
Bailey: I don’t [believe] anyone’s going to be swayed by that. I said it once. I’ll say it again, go ask Fred Flintstone and let him explain it because he needs to be focused and spending money on getting the message out on how he is going to make Illinois more affordable, safer and fix our schools and he’s refusing to do that.
It is deeply ironic that Bailey is reacting with a personal insult against Pritzker—”Fred Flintstone”—when he’s the one who thinks The Flintstones was a documentary.
In any case, it feels good to have a campaign that’s not directly about Donald Trump but about reminding voters that fundamentalist Christians like Bailey are too damn ignorant to run anything, much less an entire state. It’s also deeply funny that all of these criticisms of Bailey were part of Pritzker’s campaign four years ago, and Bailey still hasn’t figured out how to address them. The man hasn’t learned a damn thing—what else would you expect from someone who promotes textbooks from BJU?—and neither has the party that continues to nominate him as a sacrificial lamb with nothing of value to offer voters.
There was a time when I would have felt bad about attacking someone on this, but I have come to realize that accepting one false belief is a gateway.
It teaches you that science is a lie. That education is a lie.
And that opens you up to every other false belief currently infecting our nation.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒.
Teaching creationism by itself isn't totally harmful. Yes, it does put the kids at a disadvantage when it's time for them to learn actual science, but the belief itself isn't necessarily going to harm the children. It is the racist and misogynist culture war nonsense that does the real harm. Presenting children with the Bible as the ultimate authority about everything and giving them 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 the far right interpretation will cause them much trauma when they encounter the real world.