US Rep. Mary Miller’s ‘White Life’ Comment Is Latest Controversy in Her Short Two Years in Congress

When freshman U.S. Rep. Mary Miller took to a county fair stage Saturday night to thank former President Donald Trump for appointing conservative justices who led the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, she called it a “historic victory for white life.”

Miller, who has Trump’s endorsement in challenging five-term Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis in Tuesday’s primary, did not elaborate on the “white life” comment she made onstage. Later, a campaign aide said she meant to say “right to life,” but misspoke.

Miller’s quote, with its racist overtones, was delivered on a national stage amid a time of deep political divisions exacerbated by the high court’s abortion ruling. In Congress, Miller has aligned herself with the far-right extremes of the national GOP, a factor in winning Trump’s endorsement. Her comment Saturday quickly spread on social media to become the top trending political subject on Twitter. That prompted her campaign to complain that “the fake news vultures are out” to get her.

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Just days after taking office in January 2021, Miller was facing calls for her resignation after she cited Adolf Hitler in a speech to a conservative women’s group in referring to the political indoctrination of young people.

“Each generation has the responsibility to teach and train the next generation,” she said. “You know, if we win a few elections, we’re still going to be losing unless we win the hearts and minds of our children. This is the battle. Hitler was right on one thing. He said, ‘Whoever has the youth has the future.’”

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Miller has not spoken out against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. She voted against a $40 billion aid package to Ukraine, saying, “We’re not taking care of the immediate needs, the things that Americans care about, like funding our EMT or our police or our schools.”

Miller also blasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats for failing to vote on a Senate-passed plan to increase security for U.S. Supreme Court justices. But when Democrats put it up for a vote and it overwhelmingly passed, Miller missed the vote while she was campaigning back in her district.

On Saturday night, speaking before Trump at a rally at the Adams County Fairgrounds outside Quincy, Miller said, “The news media calls us names. Big Tech censors us. The global elites are determined to destroy our way of life, including the family farm. We will not let them destroy us.”

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