Josh Hawley and John Kennedy derail Senate hearing on sports betting with anti-trans bigotry

Josh Hawley and John Kennedy derail Senate hearing on sports betting with anti-trans bigotry

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to discuss the scourge of legalized gambling, but two Republicans had other plans.

Dec. 19, 2024, 6:57 PM EST
By Ja'han Jones

https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/sports-betting-hawley-kennedy-trans-athletes-rcna184927?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark


"SNIP...............

This election cycle, Republicans displayed their willingness to spread anti-trans bigotry. And that continued this week at a Senate hearing about the pitfalls of legalized sports betting.

Thanks in part to the ease with which even novice betters can make wagers online, the hype around sports betting has reached a fever pitch. And as a result, gambling addiction experts have taken notice of bankruptcies, lost homes and ruined relationships stemming from unhealthy gambling habits. Along with that, college athletes have faced death threats and other forms of abuse from angry fans upset over lost bets.

Put another way, sports betting is a true crisis afflicting college sports and the United States writ large — versus the manufactured crisis that conservatives have conjured out of the mere existence of trans athletes.

And, in fact, much of Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing was actually pertinent to the discussion, focusing on things like the dangers of prop bets and online threats. But two Republicans on the committee, Missouri’s Josh Hawley and Louisiana’s John Kennedy, clearly had ulterior motives, as both essentially steered the conversation off-course with anti-trans attacks.

...............SNIP"

Applegrove:

Score one for the GOP MAGA gambling oligarchs.