Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, nominated to her position in 2021 by President Joe Biden, is impressing some conservatives by her actions in dealing with Big Tech and other industries.
Calling themselves "Khanservatives," Republicans supporting the chair's moves tend to be relatively young backers of former President Donald Trump.
"As the Republican Party becomes more working class, we're less captive to the neolibertarian view that everything big business does to people is OK," Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Gaetz added that the party "can't be whores for big business and be the voice of the working class at the same time."
Just about a month ago, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, said, "I like a lot of the things Lina Khan is doing."
"A lot of my Republican colleagues look at Lina Khan … and they say, 'well Lina Khan is sort of engaged in some sort of fundamental evil thing. And I guess I look at Lina Khan as one of the few people in the Biden administration that I think is doing a pretty good job," Vance said at Bloomberg's "RemedyFest" technology forum.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who has proposed multiple bills to strengthen antitrust enforcement, told The Journal he likes the way Khan has aggressively enforced antitrust laws.
"She has done a good job of picking up the baton and running with it," said Hawley, who credited the Trump administration for starting the approach to enforce antitrust laws.
Khan being reappointed by Trump should he return to the White House next year might not be far-fetched in some Republicans' minds.
"I would hope that whoever is the next FTC chair would continue many of the cases that Chair Khan has brought against predatory businesses," Gaetz said, The Journal reported.
While liberals focus on workers' rights and corporate greed with huge companies, many Republicans are looking out for workers, free speech, and woke agendas.
Khan has used her federal agency to go after corporations she says have distorted markets and harmed consumers.
"Antitrust and antimonopoly has historically been deeply bipartisan," Khan, 35, told the Journal. "Conceptually, conservatives view concentration of power skeptically, and there has been a recognition that concentration of corporate power can in some instances be deeply antithetical to liberty."
Not all Republicans are fans of Khan.
House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, during a committee hearing in July, accused Khan of abusing power and bullying companies.
"She has pushed investigations to burden parties with vague and costly demands without any substantive follow-through, or, frankly, logic, for the requests themselves," Jordan said.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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