Not new, this has been then MO for decades. Every new election year the GOP comes out with the current year's boogeyman saying, If you don't put us in power shits going to get real bad for you, only we can stop it and make you safe...and the masses swallow whole. This year trans people and the sanctity of decent folks and children, the last cycle was violent crime with their bullshit about Portland, Chicago, etc being crime ridden shitholes with "No Go Zones" and the like.