Three million “illegal aliens”– men, women and children, almost all of whom were guilty of no crimes besides perhaps crossing the border– were all “criminals terrorizing our communities and families”?

Congressman Cline has taken his anti-immigrant fearmongering to a new and frightening level. And for some reason, I don’t feel any safer.

Congressman Cline’s Democratic opponent in the 2026 election has challenged him to a series of debates.

Democratic Congressional candidate Beth Macy challenged Republican incumbent Rep. Ben Cline to three debates before the Nov. 3 election.

Macy, who is running to unseat Cline in the Virginia’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, proposed three in-person debates, one each in Roanoke, Harrisonburg and Winchester, to be held between Sept. 25 and Nov. 1.

Macy said in a statement:

“Public debates are a cornerstone of democratic elections. They allow voters to hear directly from candidates, compare positions on the issues and evaluate how candidates respond to questions and differing viewpoints. Debates promote transparency and accountability by giving candidates a public forum to explain their priorities and records, helping voters make informed decisions before casting their ballots—values I hope Ben Cline and I both share.”

Macy proposed that both candidates agree on event hosts, neutral locations, qualified moderators and debate formats. She requested that questions come from voter submissions, so the discussion focuses on issues voters care about most. Macy proposed the debates through certified mail to Cline’s campaign and requested a response by Aug. 24.

Congressman Cline: If you agree to these debates (not simply “candidate forums”), I won’t bug you anymore about the 22 town hall meetings you’ve promised.

Deal?

Perhaps Congressman Cline is feeling the need to put a tiny bit of distance between himself and Donald Trump,

The Daily News Record reports:

During a recent hour-long interview at The Palms Restaurant in Lexington, Cline spoke of his Trump alliance.

“Our policy goals will align most of the time,” said Cline, who applauds Trump’s sealing of the U.S. border, federal tax cuts and the downsizing of the U.S. Department of Education to give more control to the states. “I support these things,” he said.

The two differ on tariffs, which Trump has used punitively and as a negotiating tool. “He sees them (tariffs) in a much broader and more deliberate manner,” Cline says. As a congressman, he has supported free trade.

But last August Cline boasted:

As I noted at the time, these trade deals were very far from “locked in.” And they all involved increases in tariffs on products imported from these countries– meaning, ultimately, higher prices for American consumers, especially those least able to afford them.

Last September the House of Representatives voted to cede power over tariffs to Trump. Only three Republicans voted to oppose the measure. Ben Cline was not among them.

And in February of this year, the House approved a resolution to terminate Trump’s tariffs on Canada. Only six Republicans voted for the measure. Ben Cline was not among them.

In other words, Cline claims to differ with Trump on tariffs, but he lacks the courage to vote his supposed principles.

Is anyone surprised?

Congressman Cline may disapprove of New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan for city-run grocery stores, but that doesn’t entitle him to continually lie about it– and about the so-called SAVE America Act.

In an effort to highlight alleged Democratic hypocrisy, Cline on August 4 posted on his Congressional Facebook page a link to the following:

In the comments to that post, I linked to an AP report debunking Cline’s and the Republicans’ claim:

So of course on his campaign Facebook page on Wednesday, Cline repeated the lie:

“Commie Mamdani” is the one on the left:

Mamdani is not a communist. However Trump has declared his love for a couple of real actual existing Communists– something Cline will not be posting about.

It’s been two full months since Congressman Cline told Kate Nuechterlein of 29News that he is “planning to hold another town hall in all 22 localities” in the Sixth District.

Cline, who has also faced criticism from constituents over the lack of space in his town halls, told 29News he is planning to hold another town hall in all 22 localities.

Cline since then has not held or even scheduled a single town hall anywhere in the Sixth District. (Republican party events don’t count.)

Cline’s current term in the House of Representative ends on January 3, 2027. He may not be reelected to another term. To fulfill his plan, he will need to schedule one town hall a week between now and then.

He’d better get started. His constituents have a lot of questions for him.

Another desperate, lying Facebook post by Congressman Cline.

The “Working Families Tax Cut Act,” narrowly approved last year, slashes more than a trillion dollars from federal programs providing health care and food assistance to low-income families. It was previously known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” until Cline and other Republicans became too embarrassed to call it that anymore.

The law provides huge tax cuts for the very rich, tiny tax cuts for the working class and actually reduces incomes for the poorest Americans.

The law did not stop “illegal aliens” from receiving “taxpayer-funded benefits” because they were not receiving them before it was passed.

• Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federal benefits such as Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, Social Security, or Affordable Care Act Marketplace health insurance.

• Some lawfully present immigrants can qualify for benefits, but eligibility is severely limited. Green card holders must wait five years before qualifying for SNAP, and new federal restrictions have narrowed eligibility for Medicaid and SNAP beginning in 2026.

• Undocumented immigrants can still receive emergency medical care. Federal law requires hospitals to provide emergency treatment regardless of immigration status.

And this is true no matter how many times Cline lies in his effort the demonize and scaremonger about immigrants.

Congressman Cline’s latest post on his campaign Facebook page:

Let’s lay aside for now the question of whether the tens of billions of dollars spent so far on Trump’s unwinnable war in Iran (which Cline supports) is a “reckless waste of your tax dollars.”

The only recent increase in taxes on working class families is Trump’s tariffs, which these families have to pay in higher prices– something else Cline supports.

Another ridiculous Ben Cline “solution” to a non-existent “problem.”

How does this even remotely help the people he purports to represent in Congress?

As Donald Trump awards no-bid contracts for his taxpayer-funded projects and pardons well-connected convicted fraudsters without a hint of objection from Congressman Cline, the congressman laughably posts stuff like this on his campaign Facebook page.

One result is comments like this:

You’ve got them rolling in the aisles, Congressman.

As the midterm elections approach, and with no meaningful achievements to boast about, President Trump and Congressional Republicans are latching onto the Democratic primary victories of a handful of self-described democratic socialists to try and scare voters about what they variously describe as “socialism,” “communism” and “Marxism.”

It took Congressman Cline awhile to join in, but here’s what he posted today on Facebook:

Of course there’s nothing “new” about any of this. Republicans have engaged in the same sort of scaremongering for nearly a century.

Speaking of Republicans in 1952, President Harry S Truman observed:

Socialism is a scare word they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years.

Socialism is what they called public power. Socialism is what they called social security.

Socialism is what they called farm price supports.

Socialism is what they called bank deposit insurance.

Socialism is what they called the growth of free and independent labor organizations.

Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people.

As far back as the 1930s Republicans were calling President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal “socialist” and “communistic.”

What Republicans called “socialism” proved so popular that they had to pass a Constitutional amendment to prevent anyone else from being elected president four times, as FDR was.