House Republican touts ‘Dignity Act’ bill claiming to make path to legalization, but don’t be fooled

Posted on February 11, 2022 by Gabe Ortiz

A South Florida Republican has introduced an immigration bill she’s touting as “The Dignity Act.” Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar c laims the legislation will “provide a dignified solution to immigrants currently living in the US.” On its surface, it would appear to make Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar a rarity of sorts, a Republican putting forward a pathway to legalization.

But don’t be fooled. Experts and immigrant rights advocates note that the path to legalization in Salazar’s bill is a “dead end,” thanks to the ridiculous standards it sets—which Republicans will make sure can never be met. Advocates note the bill is, in reality, a re-election ploy for Salazar, who voted against the insurrectionist president’s impeachment.

“We appreciate that some House Republicans support a path to citizenship (which the American public wants), but Rep. Salazar's bill as written is seriously flawed,” noted American Immigration Council policy counsel Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. “For example, the path to citizenship is a dead end thanks to a border security ‘trigger’ that will never be met.”

Roll Call reports that this “trigger” ensures border security “is emphasized first before any other bill measures are implemented,” including that path to legalization. The problem here is that Republicans will never, ever, especially under a Democratic administration, publicly say the border is secure. Remember, the Biden administration has kept some of the previous administration’s worst asylum policies in place, and the GOP is still screaming “open borders.”

Reichlin-Melnick also notes another provision could likely scare away prospective applicants, rather than encouraging them to step forward to gain relief for themselves and their families.

“The Salazar bill would make it a federal crime to be undocumented for more than 90 days if you're an adult. As a result, anyone who wanted to apply for the path to citizenship would be risking prison by applying. That's one example of what I meant by ‘seriously flawed.’”

It’s also a dead-end because Kevin McCarthy has said so, previously promising racist rag Breitbart that he’ll kill any immigration legislation should he become speaker. “Unless and until McCarthy and other GOPers stop kissing the nativist ring, the Rep. Salazar bill is dead on arrival and designed for optics, not as a real proposal,” America’s Voice notes.

Salazar is also promoting this “Dignity” ploy as Republicans in her state are aiding Gov. Ron DeSantis’ despicable anti-child agenda. In recent weeks, both chambers of the state legislature have advanced hateful bills targeting asylum-seeking children and other migrants.

“In Arizona, Mark Brnovich, the state Attorney General and a candidate for the GOP primary for U.S. Senate, called immigration into the state an ‘invasion’ in a legal opinion he issued this week justifying Arizona’s ability to send troops to the border,” America’s Voice continued. “And national Republican candidates and official party committees continue to run hard on nativist tropes and lies.”

Salazar is pushing her ploy as the House has already passed legislation putting millions of undocumented people onto a path to legalization. The Dream and Promise Act, as well as the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, passed nearly a year ago under Democratic leadership and support from some GOP votes.

Salazar could just push her party in both chambers to line up behind those bills, but then that would mean a realistic path to legalization. You know, actual “dignity.”

“It’s not that Rep. Salazar is naive about the rest of the Republican Party and their open embrace of nativism,” America’s Voice deputy director Vanessa Cardenas said. “Instead of taking on those forces in her Party, she is in concert with those same forces and enables them by seeking to launder the Republican brand for select diverse districts ahead of the midterms, while seeking to blame Democrats for legislative inaction on immigration reform blocked by Republicans.”

DeSantis urges students write about anti-vaxx surgeon general, Big Lie ally for Black History Month

Posted on February 9, 2022 by Rebekah Sager

The fact that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis even knows that Black History Month is an actual thing is surprising, but that he ran a statewide essay contest about it contradicts everything he’s been attempting to do to erase Black people.

Remember, this is the same guy who proclaimed he was "taking a stand against critical race theory” in Florida schools and in the workplace by enacting “Stop Wrongs Against Our Kids and Employees Act," or the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act.” Not to mention his support for the Parental Rights in Education proposal, colloquially known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

So what does DeSantis want the budding young minds of Florida to write about? Well, it isn’t actually impressive Black Americans, nope. He’s suggesting that students write about his anti-vaxxer, numbskull surgeon general, Dr. Joseph “I don’t know a thing about science” Ladapo. A Harvard-trained doc who denies standard COVID-19 mitigations like vaccines and masks over unproven treatments such as ivermectin and monoclonal antibodies.

DeSantis also suggested the kids write about Republican Rep. Bryon Donalds, who has been public about having COVID-19, and that he believes that he’s not eternally protected from getting it again and therefore doesn’t need a vaccine.

“I chose not to get vaccinated because I chose not to get vaccinated,” he told CNN’s Chris Cuomo. “I already had COVID-19 once, I’m 42 years old, I’m in very good health, I actually get checkups regularly and do all those things. That is a personal decision for myself; members of my family, my wife and three kids, they’ve all had COVID. They’re not getting vaccinated, they’re all healthy. That is a decision they’ve chosen to make.

“If people in the United States are concerned about contracting and being hospitalized and dying, of course, from COVID-19, please go get vaccinated. I will never tell you not to get vaccinated. What I’m saying is: I made a decision not to get vaccinated and it doesn’t matter if it’s you or Joe Biden or anybody else that’s going to stress or want me to get it … I made that decision as a free person.”

Getting the picture?

He has opposed masking and opposed mask mandates whenever they arose. This included appearances in Cape Coral and before the Collier County Commission.

“You have no authority to mandate what people can put on their body. The fear people are having doesn’t justify it,” Donalds said when he spoke before the Cape Coral City Council on July 6, 2020. “As a council, you have the solemn duty to vote this down and get back to common sense.”

Ron DeSantis’ “Black History Month” essay contest recommends students write about Florida’s Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who shared unproven covid treatments, and US House Rep. Bryon Donalds who objected to the January 6th election certification. pic.twitter.com/mrI6duLizl
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) February 9, 2022

Like most things DeSantis-related, the motivation must be questioned at the very least, and at the most it should be ignored. The only thing Lapado and Donalds have in common? They’re both Black.

It’s not about the fact that they’re both Republican (although given what we all know about the Republican Party, that part is questionable), it’s that neither is an example of what students should be looking toward as examples of successful Black Americans, or any Americans for that matter.

On Jan. 6, Donalds was hanging with his buddies outside the U.S. Capitol during Trump’s rally.

This you at the rally from the video at the opening of the impeachment trial? Asking for all constituents in #FL19 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/vSDh1rGGb8
— Dr. Cindy Banyai for Congress FL19 (@Cindy_Banyai_FL) February 10, 2021

And prior to the insurrection, Donalds posted a video of himself walking into the Capitol saying he was planning to challenge Biden’s win.

“I’m about to sign the objection forms to object to the certification of the electoral college in four states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia,” he said. “It’s important we always uphold our law and the constitution no matter what, and that’s my job here in Congress.”

I’m walking into the Capitol to sign the objection to the Electoral College certification. It’s important we always uphold our laws and our Constitution, no matter what. pic.twitter.com/jg91w8uzqs
— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) January 6, 2021

Donalds ultimately was among 12 Florida members of Congress to object to all four states’ slates of electors.

Not all skin folk are kinfolk. And I’ll leave it at that.

Sex trafficking investigation seems to be hurting Rep. Matt Gaetz’s pocketbook

Posted on February 3, 2022 by Walter Einenkel

If you haven’t heard, Florida Man Rep. Matt Gaetz continues to be the focus of speculation that he has done some real dirtbag criminal stuff. Since one of his best buds, Joel Greenberg, has cut a plea deal with investigators, there have been numerous reports of witnesses who seem to say Mr. Gaetz has involved himself in human trafficking, sex with a minor, illegal drug use, and possible misuse of campaign funds. This is on top of completely unrelated reports that Rep. Gaetz has received dubious campaign donations from sketchy sources.

In the meanwhile, Gaetz has alternately hidden from the public, and then burst back into the public on what can only be called political theater events. Along with Marjorie Taylor Greene, and other MAGA diehards who may be feeling the need to find a dictator who can pardon them in the future, Gaetz continues to promote the Trumpian Big Lie that our elections were stolen and that anyone investigating what happened on Jan. 6 is probably a part of the “deep state.”

These moves have seemed desperate attempts to both provide cover for what investigators may very well discover concerning a possible conspiracy to overturn the election results in 2020, and a way to fundraise for elected officials who have voted against every single piece of popular legislation that lands on their desks.

According to ABC News, Mr. Gaetz’s most recent campaign financial disclosures show that the suspected sex trafficker seems to be having a hard time keeping up the big fundraising numbers. In the final quarter of 2021, born-rich Gaetz reportedly pulled in just over $500,000 in donations—less than a third of what the Gaetz campaign was able to fundraise in the final quarter of 2020.

According to ABC, this diminishing return for the Gaetz campaign has been a pattern since Donald Trump lost the election, and certain GOP representatives decided to hitch their train to outright support of transplanting a fascist into power. This follows with how poorly Gaetz and fellow mad king cosplayer Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attempt at fundraising together has gone. Over the summer, the Daily Beast reported that the Gaetz/Greene “joint fundraising committee” were posting “a combined loss of $342,000.” Not to get wonky here, but that’s the opposite of fundraising.

The Daily Beast is now reporting that Gaetz’s legal costs, the costs he put toward paying PR firms to spin the ongoing sex and drug crimes investigations have left his Friends of Matt Gaetz campaign committee at an almost $100,000 net loss on the year. Gaetz told the Beast that he is the only Republican that doesn’t take “lobbyist or PAC money.”

This may be true [once again, see the strange money contributions story about Matt Gaetz]. It may also be true that the money Matt Gaetz has taken for his campaign was used both illegally and for illegal things. But kissing the ring of a wannabe dictator is also costly, according to the Daily Beast.

As is customary for MAGA fixtures like Gaetz, the campaign paid its tributes to Donald Trump, tithing more than $2,200 to Trump properties in 2021. More than half of it came during the final months—$729 on Nov. 2 for lodging at Mar-a-Lago, and $445 for a late-October meal at Trump International Hotel in D.C.

Recently Matt Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend reportedly reached an immunity deal with investigators in exchange for her cooperation in the investigation of the Florida official. Gaetz has steadfastly said that all reports of illegal activities on his part are lies, and that the investigation is a witch hunt of sorts. Does this sound familiar?

Val Demings says she’s ‘seriously considering’ running against Marco Rubio

Posted on May 18, 2021 by Lauren Floyd

Rep. Val Demings of Florida, is considering throwing her hat in the ring for Republican Sen. Marco Rubio's U.S. Senate seat next year instead of launching an expected bid for governor of the state. Her name was trending through much of the morning on Tuesday after Politico reported on the prospect of Demings running. “I'm humbled at the encouraging messages I'm seeing today,” she tweeted. “I know the stakes are too high for Republicans to stand in the way of getting things done for Floridians, which is why I'm seriously considering a run for the Senate. Stay tuned.”

Alex Sink, a former chief financial officer who unsuccessfully ran against former Florida governor and now-Sen. Rick Scott, told Politico he would’ve supported her bid for governor “but this is the right fit for her and for us.”

Rubio voted to protect former President Donald Trump when he was facing his second impeachment trial for inciting a riot at the U.S. Capitol in January. A month earlier, the Florida Republican helped himself to a COVID-19 vaccination in short supply in his state at the time. “She’s going to draw a contrast between who she is and how she represents Florida vs. Marco Rubio, who a lot of people where I live never see him,” Sink said.

Demings tweeted on Tuesday: “This is my Twitter account as Representative for the People of Florida’s 10th District. For my campaign Twitter, see @val_demings.” On her campaign account, she had pinned a video in early May of her running for a seat in Congress and highlighted Rubio’s disappointing history as a senator.

“A great example of a flip-flopper,” Demings called Rubio on Friday then defined the phrase as ”when a Senator says that the former President ‘would shatter the party and the conservative movement’ and then raves he ‘was lucky enough to be one of his first posts’ in a fundraising email.” ”Leadership matters. Florida can do better,” Demings tweeted. She would be undeniably better.

Demings, a former Orlando police chief and the first woman to hold the title, was a House manager in Trump’s Senate impeachment trial, and she has been an important voice in seeking accountability for the former president for his embarrassing response to the coronavirus pandemic. "At the very least, we ought to be able to have a leader that we can trust,” she told MSNBC last May. “We don’t have that right now.” Demings said at a point she was no longer able to “endure or bear” Trump’s daily coronavirus briefings because the words coming out of his mouth have been “unbelievable.” She said they “risk lives all over this country.”

"No one—the president or the governor here in Florida—should be taking a victory lap when people are continuing to lose their lives because of COVID-19,” Demings said.

She’s been just as outspoken about a movement that spread like wildfire to save Black lives following the death of George Floyd, who was unarmed when former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. "I believe that what Derek Chauvin did was brutal, it was senseless, and it was murder," she told the nonprofit website The 19th earlier this month. "We had no choice but to try to look at what we could do as a legislative body to make the system better and prevent tragedies like that from happening.”

legislation, which the House passed but Senate Republicans have stalled, would ban no-knock warrants, chokeholds, and racial and religious profiling as well as establish a national database to monitor police misconduct. “As members of Congress, our primary responsibility is the health, safety, and well-being of the American people," Demings said last June. "We have made progress. We've come a long way, but we still have a ways to go."

Demings spoke just as passionately when she attempted to prevent the GOP from holding hostage the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, a bipartisan effort aimed at discouraging hate crimes against Asian Americans in the wake of a deadly shooting at an Atlanta spa in March. Republicans tried to randomly tie the Hate Crimes Act to an amendment preventing police department defunding efforts. "I want to make it quite clear that this amendment is completely irrelevant," Demings said at a House Judiciary hearing in April. The Hate Crimes Act, which the Senate passed, is expected to pass the House soon despite Republican Rep. Jim Jordan trying repeatedly to derail the process and disrespect Demings in the process.

YouTube Video

"I served as a law enforcement officer for 27 years,” Demings told her peers. “It is a tough job. And good police officers deserve your support.

“You know, it's interesting to see my colleagues on the other side of the aisle support the police when it is politically convenient to do so,” the Democrat added. “Law enforcement officers risk their lives every day. They deserve better, and the American people deserve ..."

Jordan tried to interrupt Demings, but she continued. “I have the floor Mr. Jordan. What? Did I strike a nerve?” the congresswoman asked. “Law enforcement officers deserve better than to be utilized as pawns.”

Demings instead of Rubio should be an easy decision for Floridians should the mother of three decide to run for his seat. Take a look at what Twitter users have to say about the prospect:

I may be the first Black woman to have run for Senate in Florida, but @RepValDemings is going to be the first to WIN! Let’s make is so. Let’s go BIG and INVEST in building a permanent community facing infrastructure that can actually disseminate the messaging to defeat the
— Pam Keith, Esq. (@PamKeithFL) May 18, 2021

Val Demings voted IN FAVOR of covid relief for Floridians. Marco Rubio voted AGAINST it. Your RT and small donation helps us blast him for his bad decision making, and defeat him in 2022. https://t.co/Bj8tAptG4o
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) May 18, 2021

Representative Val Demings to run for senate against Marco Rubio. I support this 100%. Even if you don’t live in Florida, the entire nation needs to get behind this. pic.twitter.com/wZfNjgS8eM
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) May 18, 2021

Ask yourself this question every day for the next 19 months. What have you done today to help Val Demings unseat Marco Rubio?
— Chris Hahn (@ChristopherHahn) May 18, 2021

Shit just got real for Florida’s little political windsock. Hope ⁦@RepValDemings⁩ holds Rubio accountable for all the shape-shifting and putting craven politician ambition, over the needs of a Floridians. https://t.co/VxQTMzpv14
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) May 18, 2021

‘It’s really bad news for Republicans’: Continued GOP defections could upend party primaries

Posted on February 23, 2021 (Updated February 24, 2021) by Kerry Eleveld

The great GOP exodus continues in some of the very states that will prove most critical in the battle for control of Congress in the midterms. In Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that some 19,000 voters have left the Republican Party since Donald Trump's Jan. 6 siege at the Capitol. And while that represents a tiny slice of the state's 8.8 million registered voters, the number of voters who have left the GOP accounts for about two-thirds, or 64%, of overall defections—up from a third or less in typical years, according to the Inquirer.

The data on exactly who is leaving the GOP—pro-Trumpers or never-Trumpers—are still a little murky. Based on interviews, the Inquirer concludes that the defections are fueled more by a swath of older, formerly loyal and highly engaged Republicans who have been turned off by Trump's takeover of the party.

"Former Republicans interviewed largely were united in why they left," writes the outlet, "They saw it as a protest against a party that questioned the legitimacy of their votes and the culmination of long-simmering frustration with Trump and his supporters, who now largely control the GOP."

Lifelong Republican Diane Tyson, 68, renewed her license at the DMV on Jan. 5 and opted to wait until after the pro-Trump Jan. 6 rally in Washington before deciding whether to change her party affiliation. The attack that unfolded along with her watching her congressman vote to nullify the Keystone State's election results sealed the deal. Tyson officially became an independent on Jan. 7.

“I knew I could not be a Republican anymore,” she said. “I just can’t—it’s not who I am. The Republican Party has gone down a deep hole that I want no part of. I don’t want an ‘R’ after my name.”

Similarly, 70-year-old Tom Mack, who has been a Republican since the late 1970s, offered, "It’s not the Republican Party I know. ... It’s drifted far away from my beliefs."

If the Inquirer is right about about the demographics of the GOP defectors and the trend holds, the Republican Party could end up saddled with a slew of right-wing primary winners heading into the 2022 general election contests. The party will also be losing some of its most active and loyal voting base—the people who are more likely to turn out in off-year elections and non-presidential cycles.

The whole cocktail will make it that much harder for Republican candidates who prevail in the primaries to muster the votes to beat Democrats in the midterms. “If these voters are leaving the party permanently, it’s really bad news for Republicans,” Morris Fiorina, a political scientist at Stanford University, told Reuters.

Reuters homed in on GOP defections in the three battleground states of Florida, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina and found that roughly three times more Republicans as Democrats had left their party in recent weeks. In all three states, the outlet also noted that defections were concentrated in the urban and suburban areas surrounding big cities—areas where sagging GOP support for Trump helped deliver the presidency to Joe Biden.

Based on interviews, Reuters also concluded that Trump was the main catalyst fueling the exodus, though some party switchers did say they don’t believe the Republican Party was supportive enough of Trump.

But the sentiment of Nassau County Floridian Diana Hepner, 76, suggests that Republican Party leaders really blew their opportunity to pivot away from Trump following the election and reestablish itself as something beyond a cult of personality.

“I hung in there with the Republican Party thinking we could get past the elements Trump brought,” Hepner said. “Jan. 6 was the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Now Hepner is hoping to be a "centrist influence" on the nominating contests in the Democratic Party.

Political observers generally agree about the inflated rate of GOP defections, what remains to be seen is whether the trend continues and how it affects the contours of the nominating contests that are already taking shape.

In North Carolina, for instance, the GOP saw a slight uptick in party affiliations following Trump's acquittal, a reversal after weeks of declining registrations following the lethal Jan. 6 riot. There’s still a lot of time between now and next year, but the Jan. 6 riot does appear to be an inflection point. And despite Trump’s acquittal, the impeachment trial really gave Democrats an opportunity to reinforce for voters Trump’s culpability for the murderous assault on the Capitol.

Last week, following the vote to acquit Trump, there was a slight increase in weekly NC Republican Party registration changes, reversing the downward trend pic.twitter.com/ufrBnwuYOj
— Michael McDonald (@ElectProject) February 21, 2021

Ivanka Trump Reveals Whether Or Not She’ll Challenge Rubio For His Florida Senate Seat

Posted on February 19, 2021 by LifeZette

Back in December, we reported that rumors were swirling that Ivanka Trump was about to challenge Marco Rubio (R-FL) for his Senate seat. Now, however, she appears to be putting these rumors to rest.

Ivanka Says She Won’t Challenge Rubio

Ivanka has reportedly informed Rubio that she will not be running against him after all, despite the fact that she just moved to Miami with her husband Jared Kushner and their three children.

Speculation had been mounting that Ivanka was planning to launch a political career of her own, and given her move there, it seemed likely that she would challenge Rubio when he was up for reelection in 2022.

Ivanka told Daily Mail that she considers Rubio to be a “good personal friend” of hers, which could be why she doesn’t want to run against him.

“Marco has been a tremendous advocate for working families, a good person friend and I know he will continue to drive meaningful progress on issues we both care deeply about,” Ivanka said.

Ivanka And Rubio To Team Up

Ivanka and Rubio are reportedly thinking about teaming up together on an event in Florida sometime in the next few months on their expansion of the Child Tax Credit, an issue she worked on when she served as a White House adviser.

“Marco and Ivanka did speak a few weeks ago. Ivanka offered her support for Marco’s reelection and they had a great talk,” said Nick Iacovella, a spokesman for Rubio. “We are discussing a joint event to highlight Marco and Ivanka’s successful push to expand the Child Tax Credit.”

If this event goes through, it will be seen as Ivanka’s endorsement of Rubio in his reelection campaign.

This comes as Ivanka’s sister-in-law Lara Trump, who is married to her brother Eric, is reportedly considering a run for Senate in her home state of North Carolina.

After retiring Republican Senator Richard Burr voted in favor of impeaching former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that Lara would almost definitely score the Republican nomination if she runs.

“My friend Richard Burr just made Lara Trump almost the certain nominee for the Senate seat in North Carolina to replace him if she runs,” Graham said last Sunday.

This piece was written by James Samson on February 19, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Ivanka Trump Reveals Whether Or Not She’ll Challenge Rubio For His Florida Senate Seat appeared first on The Political Insider.

Former First Lady Melania Trump Announces That She’s Opened New Office At Mar-a-Lago

Posted on February 13, 2021 by LifeZette

Former First Lady Melania Trump has just announced that she is opening a new office out of her Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. This comes after Melania was attacked by the media over reports that she has spent much of her time in the spa since moving out of the White House.

Melania Opens Office

“Mrs Melania Trump is announcing the opening of The Office of Melania Trump. Please follow this account for news and updates,” tweeted Melania’s official Twitter account.

Mrs. Melania Trump is announcing the opening of The Office of Melania Trump. Please follow this account for news and updates.

— Office of Melania Trump (@OfficeofMelania) February 12, 2021

This came after CNN reported that Melania was spending much of her time at the spa and was annoyed by the coverage her successor Jill Biden is getting.

“She goes to the spa, has lunch, goes to the spa (again), and has dinner with Donald on the patio. Rinse and repeat. Every day,” a source said, with another adding that Melania’s schedule is “pretty much the same as it was before (she was First Lady) or even when she would come down during vacations.”

An insider claimed that Melania is “bitter and chilly” at times towards her husband, former President Donald Trump, about the way they left the White House.

“She could see how it was going to go for her,” the source claimed, referring to the days before they left the White House. “Once (the Capitol riot) happened, she knew there was nothing to gain for her by speaking out or doing something — so she didn’t do anything.”

Melania To Continue Be Best

Last month, we reported that Melania had planned to start an office so that she could maintain her Be Best campaign.

Her post-White House staff will include three familiar staffers: Hayley D’Antuono, who previously served as her director of operations and trip supervisor; Mary Finzer, who previously managed Melania’s “gift closet;” and Marcia Kelly, a former unpaid senior adviser in the White House.

Sources said that the team is planning to initially work remotely and out of the Trumps’ private Mar-a-Lago Club, though Melania, 50, is looking for a separate office space in Palm Beach.

This piece was written by James Samson on February 13, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Former First Lady Melania Trump Announces That She’s Opened New Office At Mar-a-Lago appeared first on The Political Insider.

Gaetz Challenges Anti-Trump Republican Adam Kinzinger: ‘F***ing Bring It’

Posted on February 11, 2021 by Rusty Weiss

Florida congressman Matt Gaetz challenged anti-Trump Republican Adam Kinzinger (IL) to “bring it” after the latter named Gaetz as a target for his newly formed PAC.

Well, he actually used slightly more colorful terminology than that.

Gaetz, first elected to Congress in 2016, has fast become one of former President Donald Trump’s biggest supporters.

In a late-night tweet on Wednesday, the Florida Republican began by praising Kinzinger for his military service before making it clear he wasn’t afraid of a fight.

“Adam is a patriot who fought for America from Northwest Florida. We will always appreciate [and] honor his service,” Gatez wrote.

“Now, he wants to target my America First politics, referencing me by name,” he added. “My response: F***ing bring it.”

Adam is a patriot who fought for America from Northwest Florida.

We will always appreciate & honor his service.

Now, he wants to target my America First politics, referencing me by name.

My response:

Fucking bring it.

Adam needs PACs to win elections.

I don’t. https://t.co/TE9TPt6QJv

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 11, 2021

GOP Civil War: Matt Gaetz Fights Back Against Adam Kinzinger

Matt Gaetz was responding to an article published by The Hill in which Adam Kinzinger announced a new PAC he claims is fighting to “take back” the GOP from Trump.

Kinzinger went on the offensive against Gaetz and recently punished Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

“Oh, there’s a huge list. … I mean, look, all you have to do is see people like, of course, Marjorie Taylor Greene. You look at people like Matt Gaetz, who know better,” Kinzinger said. “I think neither of them believes the stuff they ascribe to, they just want fame.”

Ironic, considering the only reason anybody even knows Kinzinger’s name is because he’s willing to pimp himself out to liberal media by attacking Donald Trump.

Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who voted for impeachment, starts anti-Trump Republican PAC | Just The News https://t.co/I2nKPKLSKk

— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) February 1, 2021

Kinzinger voted to impeach Trump, one of 10 Republicans in the House to do so, making him a poor man’s Mitt Romney. Or a dumb man’s Ben Sasse, depending on how you look at it.

“The party that always spoke about a brighter tomorrow no longer does,” he said. “It talks about a dark future instead. Hope has given way to fear. Outrage has replaced opportunity. And worst of all, our deep convictions are ignored.”

“This is not the Republican road and now we know exactly where (that) new and dangerous road leads. It leads to insurrection and an armed attack on the Capitol,” Kinzinger suggested.

.@MattGaetz lashed out at his colleague, @AdamKinzinger, over his new PAC meant to purge Trump sympathizers from the GOP. https://t.co/SbBKhbD9rF

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 11, 2021

Gaetz Leads the Way

Gaetz has been leading the charge in the GOP’s civil war against anti-Trump Republicans.

Gaetz actually traveled to Wyoming for a rally in which he ripped Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), another pro-impeachment Republican.

There, he suggested the only two things Cheney has done in Congress is “frustrate the agenda of President [Donald] Trump and sell out to the forever war machine.”

Cheney and Sasse (R-NE) were both censured by their own party in various counties due to their anti-Trump actions.

And many Republicans who sided with Democrats in the House are facing other issues.

Of the 10 House members that voted for impeachment, seven of them, including Cheney, already have primary challengers.

Senate Republicans have seen controversy of their own, with six of them voting Tuesday alongside Democrats to affirm that the impeachment trial is constitutional.

The post Gaetz Challenges Anti-Trump Republican Adam Kinzinger: ‘F***ing Bring It’ appeared first on The Political Insider.

Ana Navarro Claims McCarthy’s Mar-a-Lago Trip Was ‘White Slavery’ – Says He’s Owned By His Master, Trump

Posted on January 30, 2021 by LifeZette

On Friday’s episode of “The View,” host Ana Navarro ripped Rep. Kevin McCarthy for going to visit former President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate, saying that this was an example of “white slavery.”

Navarro Blasts McCarthy For Visiting Trump

“This has been such a sad week for the Republican Party because this is a time when they had a chance to get rid of the cross that they have been bearing with Donald Trump, who has divided the party and opened it up for all sorts of nut jobs to come into the party,” Navarro said.

“Instead, what we see is Kevin McCarthy, who has been all over the place, making a pilgrimage to I guess what is going to become now the Republican Mecca, I call it Far-a-Lago. And by the way, can we put the picture back up?” she added.

“Can we just talk about the interior of Mar-a-Lago?” Navarro continued. “It’s like, what vintage bordello look? And so he went down there to make nice with Donald Trump because Donald Trump is threatening to open up a third party if Republicans don’t continue kissing his ring, among other body parts.”

“I think it’s pathetic,” she said. “You know, I think it’s white slavery, what I just witnessed from Kevin McCarthy. He looks like he’s owned by his master, and his master is Donald Trump, and it’s pathetic.”

.@ananavarro on. @GOPLeader Kevin McCarthy visiting Trump in Fla.: “It’s white slavery … He looks like he’s owned by his master, and his master is Donald Trump, and it’s pathetic.” pic.twitter.com/VA93GO23zV

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 29, 2021

McCarthy Visits Trump

This comes after McCarthy had a “very good and cordial” meeting with Trump in Florida, welcoming the president’s support in promoting GOP candidates in the next election, according to Fox News.

“President Trump has agreed to work with Leader McCarthy on helping the Republican Party to become a majority in the House,” read a statement from Trump-aligned Save America PAC.

“They worked very well together in the last election and picked up at least 15 [sic] seats when most predicted it would be the opposite. They will do so again, and the work has already started,” the statement continued.

Navarro has made a career for herself by claiming to be a Republican who was disillusioned by the party due to Trump. However, virtually nothing that comes out of her mouth sounds like it’s coming from someone who was ever a Republican.

This piece was written by James Samson on January 30, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Ana Navarro Claims McCarthy’s Mar-a-Lago Trip Was ‘White Slavery’ – Says He’s Owned By His Master, Trump appeared first on The Political Insider.

Marco Rubio attempts to attack American Federation of Teachers and is demolished on Twitter

Posted on January 29, 2021 (Updated January 29, 2021) by Walter Einenkel

After toeing the Republican line that COVID-19 wasn’t a big deal, questioning mask mandates, promoting the false narrative that Dr. Anthony Fauci lied to the American public, and questioning stay-at-home orders, Florida coward Marco Rubio stepped up in front of everyone else—teachers, first responders, and the elderly—to grab a vaccine for himself. Rubio is recently remembered for saying an impeachment trial for a president who helped create, fester, and enact an attempted coup d’etat on the United States is “stupid.” He’s also seemingly only been able to muster up the work ethic of a toddler during nap time, trying and failing to attack real legislator, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

On Wednesday, probably unable to read clearly from underneath the boots he’s been licking for the last four years, and unable to find his Bible Quote of the Day calendar, Rubio tried to attack public school teachers, and more specifically the “National Teachers Union” on Twitter. Rubio wrote, “National teachers’ union (not teachers) are saying they won’t go back to work until 2022. We should not send a single taxpayer dollar in Covid funds to schools that aren’t going to reopen.” Yup. Guy has very little to say about an insurrection from within his own political party, but he’s got serious grandstanding to do when it comes to promoting bad public health safety and our children.

It’s hard to know exactly what Rubio was talking about; perhaps he was referring to the impasse that the Chicago Teachers Union and the city has come to over COVID-19 resources and the safeguards being presented to teachers for reopening schools. Maybe he’s talking about the American Federation of Teachers? Not sure. Marco needs to go back to school. Badly. In the meantime, the internet learned him a little.

First, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten stepped in, to point out that Marco Rubio is a lying sack of shit.

Marco Rubio is lying. Our union has been talking about reopening since April, in fact I published an OpEd on it this week. The fact reopening safely costs money. Trying to withhold money from schools only slows down reopening. Stop lying Senator. https://t.co/PZnU7xxXGU
— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) January 27, 2021

Daily Kos’ own Mark Sumner called Rubio out as well.

Marco Rubio continuing the trend of using the Big Lie to spread hate and divisiveness. Tell me, Senator, is there an appropriate Bible verse for that?
— Mark Sumner (@Devilstower) January 27, 2021

Then a simple statement of facts.

You do realize that remote and hybrid learning require infrastructure, implementation costs, curriculum costs & personnel, right? Instead of threatening to make education MORE difficult, maybe you should listen to what educators say they need to meet the needs of their students.
— doesnotexist (@BrianFiddle) January 27, 2021

Those are big ideas for Rubio. This might be more his speed.

That's smart: They don't have the resources to get open, so the natural thing to do is: Cut their resources more. Thinking like this is proof of why kids need to be (safely) back in school. We've turned out too many stupid people already.
— Virgil Simpson (@HorseyDC) January 27, 2021

Maybe this approach will be easier for him to understand.

I’m of the opinion that we don’t pay legislators until they start focusing on Americans instead of trying to tear each other apart based on party politics.
— Elysabeth Britt (@ElysabethBritt) January 27, 2021

Maybe we can appeal to his Santa Claus-level understanding of Christianity and Catholicism?

does your jesus tell you to lie
— Atrios 🟨🟥 (@Atrios) January 27, 2021

But let’s be clear what is going on here.

Shame the National Teachers' Union dissolved the National Security Council's Pandemic Response Team in 2017 and then ignored their federal intelligence regarding an impending pandemic and then got on air to tell us 15 cases were going to zero and then told us to shoot up bleach.
— Gen X Army Brat (@GenXArmyBrat) January 27, 2021

The depths of Marco Rubio’s crapitude are just staggering.