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Anti-civil rights organizations go all-in on election denial

Groups mostly known for opposing abortion and trans rights are partners in the election denial movement

Published 10/29/24 9:18 AM EDT

Several right-wing organizations known mostly for opposing abortion, immigration, and trans rights are also involved in supporting and funding election denial groups, a sign of the issue’s centrality to the MAGA movement.

Following former President Donald Trump’s loss in 2020 and subsequent attempts to remain in power, a complicated and sprawling web of organizations emerged to sow doubt about future elections and spread debunked and baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud. Stringing these overlapping efforts together is the Only Citizens Vote Coalition, an umbrella organization connecting state and national election denial efforts with the broader right-wing policy ecosystem. These groups also significantly overlap with Project 2025, an effort organized by The Heritage Foundation to provide the next Republican presidential administration with staffing and policy recommendations.

Even as early as March 2021, mere months after Trump’s multifaceted effort to reverse the 2020 election, socially conservative groups began pouring money into election denial initiatives. That trend has only accelerated in the intervening years, with a host of anti-civil rights groups — often euphemistically characterized as engaged in the “culture wars” — having expanded their operations to include so-called election integrity.

These groups include the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, the anti-trans American Principles Project, a fund run by Hobby Lobby founder David Green, and high-profile right-wing charities National Christian Charitable Foundation and Christian Community Foundation, among others.

One of the primary myths that the election denial movement has spread this cycle concerns noncitizen voting, which experts agree is exceedingly rare. This manufactured scandal synthesizes two key pillars of the MAGA movement — demonizing immigrants and claiming that elections are rigged against right-wing candidates. The partners listed in the Only Citizens Vote Coalition include anti-immigrant groups the Federation for American Immigration Reform and the Immigration Accountability Project, illustrating how election denial groups have incorporated nativism into their movement. Both FAIR and IAP have strong links to the Tanton network, named after John Tanton, whom the Southern Poverty Law Center refers to as the “the racist architect of the modern anti-immigrant movement.”

Here are some of the anti-civil rights organizations also taking part in the election denial movement.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is among the top anti-abortion organizations in the nation and is on the advisory board of Project 2025. In February 2021, SBA and the American Principles Project launched the Election Transparency Initiative. Senior strategist for both groups Frank Cannon told The New York Times the goal was to make limiting voting access the “center of gravity in the party.”
American Principles Project is one of the country’s leading anti-trans organizations, and has also long opposed abortion rights. In addition to co-sponsoring the Election Transparency Initiative, APP has received large donations from Restoration of America and its associated Restoration Action, creators of election denial organization Voter Reference Foundation.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform is one of the three main branches of the nativist Tanton network, and has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. FAIR is a partner in the Only Citizens Vote Coalition.
The Immigration Accountability Project was founded in 2023 by Rosemary Jenks and Chris Chmielenski, both of whom previously worked in senior roles at NumbersUSA — another branch of the anti-immigrant Tanton network — for over ten years. In May, The Heritage Foundation, the lead organizer of Project 2025, awarded IAP a $100,000 “innovation” grant. IAP is a partner in the Only Citizens Vote Coalition and was reportedly a key voice in drafting model legislation to require proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in all “public elections.”
Family Research Council is a longtime anti-LGBTQ organization that’s been designated as a hate group by the SPLC. It is a partner in the Only Citizens Vote Coalition.
The American Family Association is a longrunning anti-LGBTQ organization that has been designated as a hate group by the SPLC. It is a partner in the Only Citizens Vote Coalition.

Several large right-wing donor organizations that are historically known for pushing social conservative issues have begun funding election denial groups in recent years.

The Servant Foundation, also known as The Signatry, is funded in part by David Green, the right-wing founder of Hobby Lobby. Between 2018 and 2020, Servant donated over $50 million to anti-LGBTQ organization Alliance Defending Freedom, which the SPLC has designated as a hate group. Green and Hobby Lobby famously sued to challenge the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act, ultimately prevailing before the Supreme Court. According to voting rights website Issue One, Servant was the tenth largest donor to the Only Citizens Vote Coalition, “giving $8.1 million to 10 unique groups since April 2020.”
The National Christian Charitable Foundation, a major conservative fund and one of the country’s largest charities, led the campaign to kill the Equality Act, which would have made it illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ people in most settings, including housing, employment, and public accommodations. Also known as the National Christian Foundation, the fund helped deliver $56 million in anonymous donations to SPLC-designated anti-LGBT and anti-Muslim hate groups from 2015-2017. According to a recent analysis from Issue One, NCF ranked as the sixth largest donor to the Only Citizens Vote Coalition, “giving $15 million to 15 unique groups since January 2020.”
The Christian Community Foundation (aka Waterstone), another donor-advised fund, helped sponsor state abortion bans and has shoveled hundreds of thousands of dollars into the coffers of the anti-LGBTQ Alliance Defending Freedom in recent years. According to Issue One, it was the 12th largest donor to the Only Citizens Vote Coalition, “giving $6.2 million to eight unique groups since April 2020.”

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Watch: Kevin McCarthy leads Republicans in prayer at hate group-sponsored event

David Badash

and The New Civil Rights Movement

February 01, 2023

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy joined hands with more than a dozen House Republicans, leading them in prayer at Wednesday’s National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, an event co-sponsored by several far-right Christian organizations, at least five of which appear on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of anti-LGBTQ hate groups.

The California Republican specifically mentioned his upcoming meeting later Wednesday with President Joe Biden, when the two will discuss the debt ceiling, which Republicans want to leverage to massively cut federal spending on programs critical to keeping many Americans alive, including Social Security and Medicare – or shut down the federal government if Democrats do not agree to their terms.

“Father, I want to lift up those who are not here today. I want you to open their hearts,” McCarthy prayed. “Father, I want to lift up the president. Father, you know I will meet with him today. Father, I ask. I asked that you open both of our hearts that you put our meaning, our meaning that seeks your truth. And the help for this nation. Father, we know as we struggle, is we come up short and again but continue to seek your guidance. We ask that you give us the patience of Job. We ask that you give us the intellect the leadership that you gave David we ask that you give us the boldness.”

The event was held at the Museum of the Bible, a non-profit founded by right-wing evangelical activist David Green and the Green family. Green is the founder of Hobby Lobby, the privately-held chain store that won a Supreme Court case enshrining into U.S. jurisprudence the concept that for-profit corporations can and do have religious beliefs.

READ MORE: Principal Ordered Librarian to Take Down Holocaust Survivor’s Famous Quote Just Days Before Holocaust Remembrance Day

The five groups sponsoring the event which also appear on the SPLC’s list of anti-LGBTQ hate groups include the American Family Association (AFA), the Family Research Council (FRC), the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Liberty Counsel, and the Pacific Justice Institute.

Other attendees included anti-LGBTQ activists, like “right-wing pastor Andrew Brunson, who blasted the United States as ‘the primary corrupter of the world’ because ‘our government and corporations increasingly march under the rainbow flag,'” he said, as Right Wing Watch reported.

Also, two “ex-gay” activists.

Later, the Republicans, including McCarthy, were prayed over byTony Perkins,the longtime head of the anti-LGBTQ hate group Family Research Council. Perkins has also served as chair and vice chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent federal government commission.

Far-right House Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Weber of Texas descended into an anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ tirade during which he invoked “the blood of the lamb” to telegraph to McCarthy his concerns about U.S. debt}:.

Weber is an original co-sponsor of the federal “Don’t Say Gay” bill. He once compared then-President Barack Obama to Hitler.

Right Wing Watch reports some of the Members of Congress who attended include Reps. Mary Miller, Diana Harshbarger, Steve Scalise, Rick Allen, Brian Babin, Michael Cloud, Robert Aderholt, Tracey Mann, Burgess Owens, Gary Palmer, Michelle Steel, Warren Davidson, Brandon Williams, Dan Bishop, Nathaniel Moran, and Mike Johnson.

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Vows to Use DOJ and Congress to Make Being Transgender Illegal While Promoting the ‘Nuclear Family’

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