How Two-Party Politics Drives Out Moderates

Congress averted a government shutdown with days to spare. The way lawmakers did it — by leaving out deep spending cuts and relying on a bipartisan coalition to pass the bill — has already put House Speaker Mike Johnson on thin ice with some hardliners in his party.

That disdain for compromise among members of the right flank of the GOP is one of the factors that cost the previous speaker his job. None of the infighting came as a surprise to former Representative Denver Riggleman, who served one term in Congress as a Republican for Virginia’s fifth congressional district before losing a primary challenge from a more conservative candidate.

Like many in his party, Riggleman supported small government, the Second Amendment, and border security — but he also supported legalizing marijuana and providing some exceptions for abortion.

“I was told I was a new type of Republican,” Riggleman said on the Big Take podcast.

On this episode, Riggleman shares the story of his brief and explosive tenure in congress.

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