Republicans struggle to define a new governing coalition as Trump closes grip on party

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WATERFORD, Mich. — The Republican Party’s metamorphosis starkly showed this week in the faceoff between a parade float championing Donald Trump and “Mr. Perks,” an 18-foot pink pig on wheels emblazoned with the words “End Washington Waste.”

Americans for Prosperity, a free-market group that helped propel the tea party uprising in 2009, drove in the pig to make a point at a conservative rally about federal earmark spending. The Trump rig, equipped with a sound system and pulled by an old ambulance, posed a threat.

“This event is not about Trump,” said Annie Patnaude, the Michigan director for AFP, explaining why the Trump display had to move away from the live band and full buffet tables she had set up. “This is about pork.” Continue reading.

In the Know: May 26, 2021

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Attorney General Keith Ellison
Keith Ellison: On the Other Side of Criminal Justice Reform and Transformation Is a Safer Society, The Nation
‘We can break this cycle. The moment for making meaningful change is now.’, Red Lake Nation News

Governor Tim Walz & Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan
Governor Tim Walz: Navigating the Troubled Waters of 2020, KTTC
Gov. Walz Signs ‘Landmark’ Energy Legislation That Updates, Expands State’s Conservation Improvement Program, CBS Minnesota
Walz signs bill to add flower, or bud, to MN medical marijuana program, KTOE

Minnesota News
‘A living memorial’: Minneapolis, world remember George Floyd’s life, death, Star Tribune
A nurse on the pandemic year: What we didn’t expect was the emotional toll, MN Reformer
A bonding bill may come down, once again, to Minnesota House Republicans, MinnPost
St. Paul’s Grand Old Day canceled for second year in a row, Star Tribune
Minn. Appeals court deals setback to voting restoration push, MPR

Continue reading “In the Know: May 26, 2021”

‘You’re putting country above party?’ Chris Wallace calls out Roy Blunt’s ‘honesty’ on Jan. 6 commission

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Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) over the weekend declined to say if he is “putting country above party” by opposing a commission to study the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

In a Sunday interview on Fox News, host Chris Wallace asked Blunt why he is trying to prevent a new investigation into the events of Jan. 6.

“Well, I think it’s too early to create a commission,” Blunt explained. “And I believe Republicans in the Senate will decide that it’s too early to create that commission. Commissions often don’t work at all. And when they do work, like the Simpson-Bowles commission produced a good result — nothing happened as part of that result.” Continue reading.

Democrats seize on GOP opposition to Jan. 6 commission

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Democrats are hammering Republicans over their opposition to a Jan. 6 commission as they look to retain control of Congress next year.

Hopes for a bipartisan panel to investigate the deadly riot at the Capitol earlier this year were dashed when Republican leadership came out against the idea, casting it as a partisan maneuver.

But some Democrats believe there may be a silver lining in the recent development, seeing the GOP’s sharp reversal on the issue as a way to bolster support ahead of the midterm elections. Continue reading.

ICYMI: Scott Jensen Joins Capitol Insurrectionists And Right-Wing Doctors To Block 12 to 15 Year Olds From Getting Vaccinated

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SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Yesterday it was reported that gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen joined America’s Frontline Doctors, a group of right-wing physicians and COVID-19 conspiracy theorists, as well as Capitol insurrectionist Simone Gold, to try and block the use of the COVID-19 vaccine in 12 to 15-year-olds.

The CDC recommends that “everyone 12 years and older should get a COVID-19 vaccination to help protect against COVID-19.”

The 80-page petition falsely claims, among a slew of other COVID-19 conspiracy theories, that the vaccine is an “experimental biological agent”, that its more dangerous than COVID-19 itself, that hydroxychloroquine could be used to treat COVID-19, that the vaccine should be “strongly discouraged” for anyone between the ages of 20 to 69, and that vaccinated children are at risk of spreading the vaccine to unvaccinated children. 

Continue reading “ICYMI: Scott Jensen Joins Capitol Insurrectionists And Right-Wing Doctors To Block 12 to 15 Year Olds From Getting Vaccinated”

Marjorie Taylor Greene attacks fellow Republicans in unhinged rant about ‘pedophile rings in DC’

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The woman derided as the “QAnon congresswoman” blasted the Republican Party while in Arizona to support the GOP’s harshly criticized audit of the 2020 vote.

What kind of corruption are you seeing?” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was asked.

“Well, I just see that they’re not doing what say they’re going to do. That’s what I was saying in there was, you know, Republicans always talk about funding and building a wall, ending abortion. Um, they say all these things, but they’re got to follow through on them,” Greene charged. “It’s one thing to say them, but we have to do them.” Continue reading.

Ron Johnson exposes the real reason why GOP lawmakers would not support the Jan 6 commission

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Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) claims House Republican lawmakers were concerned about becoming “media roadkill” if they had voted against the formation of a January 6 commission to further investigate the Capitol insurrection. 

On Friday, Johnson appeared on Fox News with primetime host Tucker Carlson where he discussed the 35 Republican lawmakers who voted in favor of the bill designed to establish a commission for the investigation into the series of events that unfolded on January 6. According to Johnson, those lawmakers who sided with House Democrats are influenced by the media.

This week, the bill advanced to the Senate after a 252 – 175 vote.  Continue reading.

‘Why do they tolerate Trump?’ Conservative calls on Republicans to recover some ‘dignity’ and cut ex-president loose

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Donald Trump personally insults the Republicans whose support he demands, and one conservative wonders why they keep sucking up to the twice-impeached former president.

The former reality TV star and 2024 frontrunner has infamously insulted John McCain’s military service, Ted Cruz’s wife and father and Jeb Bush’s vitality, but Republicans keep resisting any chance to cut the scandal-plagued party figurehead loose, wrote The Daily Beast’s Matt Lewis.

“The big question is: Why do they tolerate Trump?” Lewis wondered. “Why doesn’t their primal desire for pride and honor and dignity ever kick in?” Continue reading.

As Ex-Girlfriend Flips For Prosecutors, Gaetz Insists He’s Ignoring Scandal

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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has tried to set up a smokescreen, insisting he’s “not focused on scandal” as news breaks his ex-girlfriend has flipped and is now cooperating with federal authorities, just like his former “wingman,” Joel Greenberg.

Gaetz, who is under federal investigation for possible sex trafficking and possible sex with a 17-year old girl, in a Friday interview tried to minimize the charges against his friend, Greenberg, by suggesting he is in jail for defamation. Greenberg was facing dozens of charges, but currently the list stands at just six felonies after he entered a plea deal on Monday. Legal experts expect he is handing federal prosecutors evidence against the Florida GOP Congressman.

Meanwhile, federal authorities investigating Gaetz “have secured the cooperation of the congressman’s ex-girlfriend,” CNN reports. Continue reading.

CNN Cuts Ties With Contributor Rick Santorum

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CNN is parting ways with contributor Rick Santorum, the former Republican Senator and presidential candidate who has come under fire for remarks he made last month about Native American culture.

Speaking to an audience last month at an event organized by Young America’s Foundation, Santorum suggested Native American people had little influence on U.S. culture. “We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here,” he told a gathering of students. “I mean, yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly, there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture.”

The comments drew criticism from groups like the National Congress of American Indians. Santorum didn’t help matters when he appeared on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time” and declined to apologize for the remarks or how they were interpreted, simply telling the anchor they were taken out of context. CNN confirmed a previous report in The Huffington Post revealing that the politician and the network were cutting ties. Santorum was first named a CNN contributor in 2017. Continue reading.