I am raising my sons to be thoughtful, outspoken conservatives. It's a blessing and a curse. On one hand, they're more conservative than I am in some respects which is great. On the other, I have a son who makes up mock electoral maps in his spare time. He, my eldest, even toyed with the idea of studying political science in college but opted for accounting instead. My middle son is more bombastic, and he'll tell you exactly what he thinks. Sometimes with little regard for your feelings.
We're working on that.
So when I saw that Sen. Elissa Slotkin wants to use the weaponization of government to silence my boys and discourage them from participating in politics, I suppose she wanted me to be scared. To pause before I encouraged my children to get involved in elections, campaigns, or even with working for Republican politicians.
ON UCHICAGO CAMPUS: U.S. Senator from Michigan Elissa Slotkin hopes planned political prosecutions of republican leaders will scare young conservatives from getting involved in politics.@ElissaSlotkin pic.twitter.com/p7NBJpDcQW
— The Chicago Thinker (@ThinkerChicago) October 17, 2026
And then she doubled down, complaining about "online MAGA grifters" and others for the backlash to her tyranny.
Spare me the pearl-clutching — especially from Republican Members of Congress and online MAGA grifters who have cheered President Trump's weaponization of the government against those he doesn’t like, as recently as last week. This is a subject I know something about: Less than a… https://t.co/A54iBd5Sy0
— Elissa Slotkin (@ElissaSlotkin) October 19, 2026
Slotkin has no children. She had two stepdaughters from a previous marriage, so let me explain something to her: this won't deter my boys or any other young conservatives. Teenagers and young adults have a habit of rebelling against authority figures who tell them they can't do something. Rebellion is real.
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And as a mother, if she thought she could cow me, convince me to talk my boys out of being political — or even silence me — because I am a conservative, she's wrong again.
I'm not scared.
I'm angry.
The Democrats spent the last decade telling me Donald Trump is a fascist, a Nazi, a threat to democracy. "He must be stopped!" they screamed.
And then they turned around and did all the same sorts of fascist things they accuse Trump of doing, and are the tyrants they claim he is. Every accusation is a confession with these people. My conservative principles predated President Trump — who I opposed in 2016, by the way — and they will persist long after Trump leaves office.
For that, Slotkin wants to do to me and my children what the U.K. did to a mom who traveled to Israel: sic the police on us.
This is what Elissa Slotkin wants to do to anyone who thinks about working for a Republican politician. https://t.co/tsI8XqOyGD
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) October 18, 2026
I don't think so.
I was already going to vote red in November. Now I will crawl across broken glass to do it, and I will bring anyone and everyone I can with me. And should Democrats regain control, I will be a thorn in their side until they are out of office. They will not weaponize the government. Not on my watch.
All they've done is make sure half the country turns to open rebellion against them, and it will go very, very badly for Democrats. And that's if they make wins on November 3. Their radicalism is out in the open for all to see, and for most voters, that's off-putting.