Twenty-year-old Republican Montana State Representative Braxton Mitchell was thought to be a rising star in Montana politics, but his first bill has been a colossal disaster.
The Trump-loving, far-right devotee attempted to introduce legislation designating Antifa a terrorist group in the state. But his defense presentation was such an unmitigated “out of control” mess the bill crashed and burned immediately.
So it seems the rising Republican’s star has fallen to Earth, right out of the gate.
Mitchell has positioned himself as a far-right firebrand right from the start.
A member of Turning Point USA, a far-right youth group many have compared to the Hitler Youth, Mitchell ran on an explicitly pro-Trump and alt-right platform. He has expressed support for the Proud Boys and participated in pro-gun protests.
Mitchell’s bill to label Antifa a terrorist group was introduced just days after the January 6 White nationalist coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol that many far-right politicians have attempted to recast as an Antifa-led false flag.
During his presentation of the bill, Mitchell admitted he’d lied about two key components of the bill. He revealed he hadn’t consulted with any members of law enforcement before drafting the bill and confessed he’d lied about the bill having bipartisan support—not one Democrat had signed onto it.
It was such a disaster all 32 fellow Republican lawmakers who’d signed onto the bill immediately withdrew their support.
Speaking to The Daily Beast, Republican Representative Larry Brewster explained what went down.
“He misbehaved. He got a little out of control in committee and I think most of the co-sponsors pulled out then. I suspect the co-sponsors pulled out as a way to censure him.”
On Twitter, people felt equal parts outrage and schadenfreude about Mitchell’s disastrous entrée into politics.
Mitchell has not responded publicly to the incident or replied to media inquiries. His Twitter account has since been deleted.
