Republicans love the bootstrap myth.
The conservative outrage over Barack Obama’s “you didn’t build that” comments was proof of the GOP’s deep investment in mythology that frames extreme wealth as a product of nothing more than self-reliance and hard work — more so than privileges afforded through inheritance or rich-friendly policies.
I blame Trump for this. His absurd claim that he received just a “very small loan” — in reality, millions of dollars — from his father at the start of his career is hardly the only such tale. Just look at the GOP’s Senate candidates for this fall. Bernie Moreno in Ohio and Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania have both been raked over the coals for their bogus rags-to-riches stories.
And we should keep that same energy with Wisconsin candidate Eric Hovde, the mogul whose lived experience doesn’t seem to line up with how he has described it.
And we should keep that same energy with Wisconsin candidate Eric Hovde, the mogul whose lived experience doesn’t seem to line up with how he has described it.
Hovde has said he “didn’t start with anything” early on, and a campaign ad touts how he started his first business in his 20s. But it’s noteworthy that he co-founded that business with his father, who had been a top housing official in the Reagan administration, and, as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel once put it, “he used his father’s business and political connections” to build his own empire.
That doesn’t sound like starting with nothing.
Hovde has made a habit of attacking corporate subsidies. In 2012, during the Obama administration, he called on the federal government to “eliminate all corporate welfare.” And in the video below, from last November, you can hear him rant against subsidies offered through legislation signed by President Joe Biden.
As you may have guessed, Hovde’s companies have benefited from such “corporate welfare” — to the tune of millions of dollars. You can find stories of Hovde Properties gaining approval for seven-figure public subsidies here, here and here.
Hovde’s Senate campaign has hit choppy waters on the PR front in recent months, hampered by embarrassing video clips and remarks that seem downright cruel.
Hovde’s hypocrisy over subsidies and his exaggerated business bona fides only add to his list of demerits.
To be clear: Owning a successful business isn’t a bad thing. But misrepresenting how you came into that success? And discouraging ways to help others as you have been helped? That’s nasty work.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.