GOP hopeful Robby Starbuck: Inflation, woke excess, 'Latinx' driving Latinos, youth to GOP

Robby Starbuck, a Republican running for Congress in Tennessee's 5th Congressional District, said that inflation and "woke" excesses such as calling Latinos "Latinx" are driving the Latino community and young people to the GOP.

Inflation is "the number one issue — people are noticing every time they go to the store, every time they go to the gas pump," Starbuck told the John Solomon Reports podcast Monday.

Starbuck, a film director and producer, said he's "shocked" by how many young people, who were the first to criticize him "for being so vocal about being conservative," are now saying they'll vote for Republicans over Democrats because of the state of the economy.

Starbuck, who is Cuban American, said the Latino community is very conservative and "care[s] about family, hard work, faith," which is "not exactly descriptive of the Democratic Party."

"I would love for Democrats to continue calling us 'Latinx,'" he said. "That's something that has driven so many Latinos nuts, and nobody wants to be called that."

Starbuck referred to a Pew Research Center poll last year that found only 3% of Latinos call themselves "Latinx," which is supposed to be a gender-neutral term.

"The rest basically consider it a slur, but the Democrats just continue to do it," he explained, adding that the incumbent he is running against, Rep. Jim Cooper, is using the term in their district.

"[T]his stuff is not popular with regular people — all of the woke stuff, all of the 'Latinx,' you know, 'You can say this, you can't say this,' changing definitions of words and everything —none of it's popular with normal people," Starbuck said. And I think that that's starting to become reflective in the voting habits we're seeing change."

Voters are also scared of how the government is "trying to steal freedoms from people," he continued, citing the shuttering of businesses during the pandemic, taking people's jobs over the vaccine mandate, and keeping kids out of school and teaching them "insane stuff" that parents are just now finding out about, he said.

Democrats are being more overt now in their reach for power after having been more subtle during their long march to dominance in academia, entertainment, and media, Starbuck argues, because "they reach a point in time where, to consolidate power, they have to be overt, you have to go for it. And that's what we're seeing right now — we're witnessing them go for it."

Starbuck said that the 2022 elections will be the Democrats' "play for total control, and we should be very concerned about what they're willing to do in order to get that."

"[W]inning in 2022, I believe firmly, is our last chance to save this country and save freedom," he warned. "I think if they get through 2022 with a majority, you're gonna see a consolidation of power happen that is going to be really scary for our country and our future and our children."

There has been a large "influx of red voters" in the last 10 years in Starbuck's district, and with redistricting happening in January, he said that estimates for Republican gains in the House range from plus-5 up to plus-28.

"[T]he National Republican Congressional Committee just announced that it's a flip target," he added, saying that the economy and education are the top issues in the race.