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OPINION

DeSantis Continues to Convince New Hampshire It Does Not Want to Be Florida

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GOP governor Ron DeSantis, running for president but struggling to get out from under Donald Trump’s poll numbers, is spending a few days in New Hampshire where he once again tried to convince Republicans in the Granite State they should want to be just like Florida.

His “Make America Florida” campaign is not translating well to New Hampshire.

“At his first town-hall event in New Hampshire, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida talked on Tuesday about illegal immigration in Texas, crime in Chicago, disorder on the streets of San Francisco and the wonders of nearly every aspect of Florida — a state he mentioned about 80 times,” The New York Times reports. “Roughly an hour into the event, Mr. DeSantis finally got around to saying ‘New Hampshire.'”

At a town hall, candidates get asked questions, and generally are expected to answer them.

And while “DeSantis’s comments seemed to especially resonate when he connected his actions at home to issues of importance to New Hampshire residents, like the flood of fentanyl and other deadly drugs into their communities,” The Times notes, “his self-confident lecture about his record as Florida’s governor left the distinct impression that he believes Republican voters need what he is offering them more than he is interested in what he could learn from their questions.”

READ MORE: Trump, DeSantis, Haley to Speak at Anti-Government Extremists’ ‘Joyful Warriors’ Summit

Questions, like one from a teenager who did not get his question answered, but instead got interrogated up front: “Are you in high school?” was DeSantis’ initial, rapid-fire response.

The teen, who answered yes, said he goes to school in nearby Vermont but lives in New Hampshire, and came to see the Florida governor.

“Do you believe that Trump violated the peaceful transfer of power, a key principle of American democracy that we must uphold?” the student asked.

“Well, thank you for the question,” DeSantis replied, after asking if he was a student. “So, here’s what I know. If this election is about Biden’s failures, and our vision for the future, we are going to win. If it’s about re-litigating things that happened two, three years ago, we’re going to lose. And so I can tell you this. I can tell you this. I can point you to Tallahassee, Florida on, I believe, January 5, 2023. We had a transition of power from my first administration to my second ’cause I won re-election in a historic fashion and at the end of the day, you know, we need to win, and we need to get this done.”

“So I wasn’t anywhere near Washington that day. I have nothing to do with what happened that day,” the Florida governor declared. “Obviously, I didn’t enjoy seeing, you know, what would happen, but we’ve got to go forward on this stuff. We cannot be looking backwards and be mired in the past.”.

Joe Walsh, the former Republican and former U.S. Congressman from Illinois, blasted DeSantis — not his response, but DeSantis himself.

READ MORE: Supreme Court Rejects Fringe Trump-Backed Election Theory – Experts Say ‘Huge Victory for Democracy’ But Only ‘For Now’

Literally pointing to the video of DeSantis on Twitter, Walsh wrote: “What a chickenshit. Not at all a profile in courage.”

HuffPost White House correspondent S.V. Dáte also weighed in, saying, “Is it that hard to say: I would never attempt a coup. Coups are un-American and wrong and a crime.”

On Monday, Politico reported, “in the month since DeSantis formally entered the presidential race, he’s stumbled in the first-in-the-nation primary state.”

“He got dragged into a tit-for-tat endorsement battle with Trump that generated some media attention but little measurable increase in support. His first visit to the state as a presidential candidate drew more headlines for what he didn’t do — take questions from voters — than the retail politicking he did. And that’s on top of polls that had already swung back in Trump’s favor.”

Indeed, DeSantis continues to get slammed in the New Hampshire polls. The latest, from St. Anselm, puts Trump at 47% and DeSantis at 19% – a 10-point drop from late March, when DeSantis came in with 29% to Trump’s 42%.

It gets worse for the Florida governor.

“The New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women released a statement Thursday slamming DeSantis for planning an event at the same time as their annual fundraising lunch — an event Trump is headlining. The group asked him to reschedule,” Politico notes.

“’It has always been a New Hampshire hallmark to be considerate when scheduling events,’ the group’s events director, Christine Peters, said in a statement. ‘To have a candidate come in and distract from the most special event [the women’s group] holds in the year is unprecedented.’”

Politico spoke to “an adviser to a rival candidate granted anonymity to speak freely.”

“If there’s one thing you don’t do in New Hampshire, it’s piss off the grassroots women,” they said. “Don’t mess with them, they remember everything. Rookie move.”

Watch the video above or at this link.

 

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OPINION

Fetterman Vows to GOP ‘Jagoffs’ He Will ‘Save Democracy by Wearing a Suit’ but He Has Two Conditions

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September 20, 2023

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Amid several days of right-wing, Republican, and Fox News outrage targeting U.S. Senator John Fetterman after Senators were told they may now wear casual attire on the floor, the Pennsylvania Democrat is promising to “save democracy by wearing a suit,” but he has two conditions.

Senator Fetterman stands at least six feet eight inches tall and weighs in at 270 pounds, according to The Washington Post, which attempted this week to debunk right-wing conspiracy theories that he has a “body double.”

He is known for wearing Carhartt sweatshirts and shorts more often than suits and ties, and after he was elected last year many in the media worried how he would transition to the more formal restrictions expected of sitting U.S. Senators. As it turns out there is no actual “dress code” that applies to Senators, and some, like Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), have taken advantage of that fact on occasion.

Some, like one menswear editor, have taken the opportunity to mock other unique dress aspects of some political figures.

READ MORE: ‘Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party’: McCarthy and Far Right Republicans Mocked as GOP Divide Grows Even Greater

On Tuesday Sen. Fetterman mocked his detractors, including Fox News, which has aired at least several segments on his casual attire while suggesting the relaxed enforcement of the already non-existent “dress code” in the nation’s top deliberative body is an example of the “decline of standards in everything.”

One of Fetterman’s detractors has been having her own challenges this week: U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), caught vaping, taking photos, and allegedly engaged in sexual groping during a performance of a family-friendly musical.

READ MORE: ‘Knock It Off’: Matt Gaetz Thinks Merrick Garland Should Tell the President to Not Allow Hunter Biden at State Dinners

In response to a Fox News social media post that claimed “People are furious after the Senate dropped its dress code requirement,” Sen. Fetterman said: “I figure if I take up vaping and grabbing the hog during a live musical, they’ll make me a folk hero.”

On Wednesday, Fetterman continued his colorful remarks, while mocking his critics – namely, House Republicans – who, he suggested, feel sweats are the end of the American republic.

The House is currently mired in “chaos,” a word Reuters, Fox News, MSNBC, The Hill, Axios, The Washington Post, and others have used to described the state of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s conference just eleven days before what appears to be a likely shutdown of the federal government. It appears less and less likely Republicans will be able to pass legislation that will keep the government open after September 30, and continue funding Ukraine’s defense against Russia.

“If those jagoffs in the House stop trying to shut our government down, and fully support Ukraine, then I will save democracy by wearing a suit on the Senate floor next week,” Sen. Fetterman wrote.

READ MORE: ‘This Is Stupidity’: House Republican Slams McCarthy and His ‘Clown Show’ of ‘Lunatics’ as Clock Ticks Toward Shutdown

See the social media photos above or at this link.

 

 

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OPINION

‘Declaring the Office of Speaker to Be Vacant’: Reporter Finds Possible Gaetz Resolution in House Restroom

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2 weeks ago

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September 19, 2023

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A reporter says he found a House resolution dated just days ago, with marks identifying it as from U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz’s office that would, if passed remove Congressman Kevin McCarthy from his elected role as Speaker of the House, according to New York Magazine.

Journalist Matt Laslo, who is also a former Johns Hopkins University professor and has bylines at Wired, Vice, Rolling Stone, and Raw Story, posted photos of the document (below) and wrote on social media: “Found on a baby changing table in restroom underneath House floor: ‘Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant,’ from Rep. @mattgaetz, Sept. 15, 2023, 11:22am.”

There is no confirmation the document is authentic, and it could have been intentionally placed there by anyone, just so a reporter would find it, but even if drawn up or left as a joke it is yet another indication of the acrimony and hostility building among House Republicans over the likely impending government shutdown. On Tuesday, after a continuing resolution to keep the federal government running for another 30 days was scrapped, Fox News described Speaker McCarthy as being “in a bind as GOP factions, and factions within factions, [are] at loggerheads.”

READ MORE: ‘I’m Not Quitting’: McCarthy Promises to Stay in Congress if Republicans Remove Him as Speaker

As a condition of being elected Speaker, Kevin McCarthy agreed to allow any one member file a “motion to vacate,” meaning a motion to remove him as Speaker. It would require a vote in the House. In January NBC News reported it would require a simple majority vote to oust McCarthy under the rules he agreed to.

Last week Rep. Gaetz threatened to remove McCarthy.

“Because McCarthy probably has enough votes to survive any coup attempt, Gaetz’s threat is probably empty. But the method of the leak here is worth noting — either a brilliant or extremely dumb way to pass off information in Congress,” New York Magazine reports.

“Oh. My. God. The Republican House is in complete shambles. What a joke,” Sawyer Hackett, a Democratic strategist and Senior Advisor to former Obama Cabinet Secretary Julián Castro, wrote in response to Laslo’s post on social media.

CNN’s Melanie Zanona responded, “omg.”

Punchbow News cofounder Jake Sherman offered the most dramatic yet noncommittal response:

See the social media post and photos above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Grabbing the Hog During a Live Musical’: Fetterman Mocks Fox News and Boebert Over Dress Code Outrage

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OPINION

‘I Dress Like He Campaigns’: Fetterman Smacks Down DeSantis Amid Sweeping Right Wing Attack on His Attire

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2 weeks ago

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September 18, 2023

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U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) is striking back amid attacks on his iconically casual attire led by Republican lawmakers and Fox News.

Senator Fetterman, who often wears sweatshirts instead of suits, found himself once again targeted in the past few days.

“The Senate no longer enforcing a dress code for Senators to appease Fetterman is disgraceful. Dress code is one of society’s standards that set etiquette and respect for our institutions. Stop lowering the bar!” demanded U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

Over at Fox News, co-host Greg Gutfeld, wearing a shirt, no tie, and sneakers, insisted “women know how to dress. They enjoy looking good,” while admitting, “men enjoy looking comfortable,” which is why “the dudes should stick to the suits.”

“This isn’t a poker game or a strip club,” he continued.

“It’s not going for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory,” Gutfeld added, lamenting the “decline of standards in everything.”

READ MORE: ‘Another Alleged Instance of Obstruction’: New ‘Rock Crusher’ Revelation Makes Case Against Trump Even Stronger Expert Says

Co-host Dana Perino, presumably sarcastically, added: “You know, this happened in the fall of the Roman Empire. They let people wear togas everywhere. Next thing you know — no empire.”

Earlier on Fox News Business, Maria Bartiromo had told U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) there was a “cover up underway.”

“Chuck Schumer certainly didn’t consult with me,” Haggerty replied, discussing the new dress code.

“It’s just another step in the movement by the Democrats to ‘transform America,’ to take us to a different place, and to take us to a place that is much less respectful than we historically have been,” he claimed.

And then there was Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis, campaigning despite currently being behind Donald Trump by an average of 43.9 points, telling supporters that Senator Fetterman “has a lot of problems.”

READ MORE: ‘Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party’: McCarthy and Far Right Republicans Mocked as GOP Divide Grows Even Greater

“Let’s just be honest,” the governor said, “like, how he got elected, well – I mean, he got elected because they didn’t want the alternative but, um, he wears like sweatshirts and hoodies and shorts, and that’s his thing so he would campaign in that.”

DeSantis, wearing an outfit that is almost exactly a copy of Donald Trump’s regular red tie and blue suit, insisted America needs to be “lifting up our standards, not dumbing-down our standards.”

Senator Fetterman had a simple response: “I dress like he campaigns.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

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