OC Congressional Candidate Scott Baugh Faces New Criticism Over ‘Wokeism’ Comments

Attorney Scott Baugh, the lead GOP candidate running in the 47th Congressional race next year, responded to criticism on Tuesday over comments made earlier about the threats of “wokeism” to religious freedom.

The new controversy curiously dates back to June, when Baugh gave a speech to the International Christian Ambassadors Association in Stanton, located just outside of Anaheim and Orange in Orange County. Speaking on the topic of threats to religious freedom, Baugh said that previous major wars in the U.S., as well as September 11th, were not as threatening as the wars over wokeism and a lack of common sense.

“What’s the greatest threat to religious freedom? We were born in the Revolutionary War,” said Baugh on June 10th. “We survived civil wars, World War II, World War I, a lot of wars, 9/11. None of those were that threatening to our country compared to the war that we’re fighting now. That war is about wokism and the lack of common sense.”

“That wokism ― it’s communism, wokism, whatever you want to call it ― it’s infected our churches. I like to tell some of our pastors that Jesus came to offend. That was his purpose. How would you know you needed a savior unless your sins were pointed out? And our churches aren’t doing that.”

The comments at the time were not remarked on, with Baugh’s campaign later saying that they knew that a handful of outlets might react to it later on when they saw it. The speech remained in obscurity until very recently, with the Huffington Post releasing a story on the speech early on Tuesday. Many soon denounced what Baugh said, including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who also commented that “Baugh is a perennial loser who would fail again in 2024.”

“Scott Baugh’s disgusting culture war nonsense has gone too far,” said DCCC spokesman Dan Gottlieb in a statement. “Service members and veterans deserve better than this offensive propagandist, and so does California’s 47th District.”

His main opponent in the Congressional race, Senator Dave Min (D-Orange County), added, “Scott Baugh’s comments are despicable and denigrate the memories of the 2,996 Americans who died during the September 11 attacks. They also reflect an extremist and un-American ideology that is more suited to the backwaters of Q-Anon chatrooms than the halls of Congress. When September 11 occurred, I was a third year law student in the Boston area, where two of the hijacked flights originated. This was a defining moment for all Americans.”

“Many of my friends and classmates went into the military or public service after those horrific terrorist attacks, to try to honor the memory of those who perished. 9/11 was a big part of the reason I chose to begin my career at the Securities and Exchange Commission, prosecuting financial crimes. For Baugh to outrageously state that “woke-ism” is worse than 9/11, both World Wars, and the Civil War, illustrates his total contempt for our military veterans and for protecting the safety and security of the American people.”

However, the Baugh campaign soon responded and largely defused the situation later Tuesday morning saying that the comments were simply over the threats of “wokeism” to religious freedom, and that they had anticipated the controversy since Baugh had originally said it.

“When Scott said those words, he knew that a handful of liberal groups and media outlets would react when they saw it,” said Baugh campaign spokesman Zach Freimark said in a statement. “The loss of life in any traditional war is tragic and should be honored and respected.”

“We also cannot allow liberal advocacy groups and their media allies to deflect the truth or take away the fact that woke politicians and the bureaucrats that work for them are destroying our education system, attacking faith-based institutions, de-funding law enforcement, and eroding our everyday freedoms. California needs someone willing to stand up to these attacks.”

Baugh’s comments and the battle over the 47th Congressional District

While the extent of Baugh’s comments have yet to be seen over the long-term, commenters noted that Democrats in the district have been losing ground to the Republicans for months. In November, Baugh narrowly lost to Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA), showing that the final Democratic-held Orange County seat taken from the Republicans during the 2018 blue wave was now even more vulnerable following the Congressional district realignments.

This year, bad news has continued to come in with Porter announcing in January that she would be running for the Senate, officially opening up the seat. Initial frontrunner for the Democrats in the district, former Congressman Harley Rouda, had to bow out earlier this year, leaving Min as the main candidate for the Dems. In May, things got worse, with Min getting arrested for drunk driving in Sacramento. With Baugh overtaking Min in terms of fundraising and support in July and Min being sentenced to three years probation last week over the DUI incident, many Dems had been desperate for any good news in the district.

“What suspiciously good timing,” said Malik Griffin, a Los Angeles polling analyst. “Min and [activist and fellow Democratic candidate Joanna] Weiss really needed Baugh to slip up somehow. So a three-month old video that Baugh’s team had already said things about happens to come up less than a week following Min’s DUI.”

“I’m not sure if there will be any impact here. Baugh’s team is navigating this well. He shouldn’t have mentioned the wars and 9/11 really, as that is what many are criticizing him for, but if you see his explanation, it makes sense in context and doesn’t seem disrespectful. Min’s team is having a harder time with the DUI. They should say that he made  a mistake and is atoning for it and will come out the stronger person. But he can’t take advantage of that for awhile. Luckily this story came out.”

“Right now, Baugh is still proving to be more popular and will likely win the Primary come March, especially with a DUI-weakened Min facing Weiss for the Democratic side of things.  You can bet though this comment will come up in any debates and in ads. So just like how Min’s teams has been preparing to fight back on the DUI front, Baugh’s team will continue to work on responses to the wokeism comment.”

“What it is is a badly worded comment mentioning wars and 9/11. What it isn’t is an earth-shattering statement like Mitt Romney’s 47% speech in 2012 or something like that. This won’t sink Baugh, with Min’s DUI to linger long past it. You can backtrack and manuever on a comment. You can’t do that with a DUI.”

More reaction on Baugh’s comment is likely to come in later on Tuesday.