East Central Reporter

At a virtual town hall on Jan. 10, state Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) told the Illinois Freedom Caucus that Democrats are forcing a “pretend culture” on Illinoisans during a recent roundtable discussion. 

Miller said that the group will continue to fight logically and strategically for what the state should really have.

“The left has moved us to what I like to refer as the pretend culture,” Miller said. “Where we're pretending that a man can become a woman. Or pretending that if we take gun rights away from law-abiding citizens, that's going to fix anything. We pretend about raising taxes as a solution. If we pretend that we take freedoms away from people, that everything's going to be better.” 

Miller’s comments came in response to comments from guest speaker Rick Green, a Texas radio host and former state representative. “This is going to take a lot of hard work. It's going to get more ugly before it gets better,” Green told the group. “You know, I'm an optimist, but I'm also a realist and a student of history. And you cannot pour that cultural Marxism in for that many years and not have a really, really negative result. But as I said, the good news is we can shift that. We can turn that, but that's going to take a long time. And so for guys like me, like you that are in the legislature fighting this battle on a daily basis and most of the time outnumbered in your particular legislature, I just say thank you.” 

Miller is the chairman of the Illinois Freedom Caucus. Republican state Reps. Blaine Wilhour (Louisville), Brad Halbrook (Shelbyville), Dan Caulkins (Decatur), and Adam Niemerg (Teutopolis) are members of the group. It is part of the broader State Freedom Caucus Network. “We need patriots who will serve in our state capitals to fight federal overreach and stand firm against those — in both parties — who prioritize seizing political power over representing constituents,” the group’s website reads.

The group opposed the SAFE-T Act. Prairie State Wire reported that Illinois Freedom Caucus celebrated when the cashless bail provision of the criminal justice overhaul was overturned.

The Illinois Freedom Caucus also praised the 20 Republican holdouts who demanded concessions in order to vote for U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Miller’s wife – U.S. Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) – is the only member of the Illinois GOP delegation who voted against McCarthy, according to East Central Reporter.