Dipping Into The Cesspool
Of Politicians Who Have Trump’s Blessing
Ha, ha, ha, the Washington Post got the jump on Fox News today when the Post ran an “exclusive” interview with trump, who has called the Post a citadel of fake news while trump bypassed his previous main squeeze, the supreme bastion of honest journalism, trump’s premier propagandist.
The New York Post is expected to pander but not the Washington Post, that iconic, Watergate-busting defender of ethical, honest, unbiased journalism. The thing is that trump had absolutely nothing to say, just bloviating on about everything you’ve heard him blather a million times already, like his “win” in the 2020 presidential election; that Speaker Nancy Pelosi should have stopped the Jan. 6, 2021, trumpian riot at the Capitol; his exaggerating the number of people at the fateful rally in Washington, when trump egged on the rabble to invade the Capitol to force Congress to award him the election, and blah, blah, blah.
I couldn’t even read the whole story, it was so lame and predictable. So why did the Washington Post give so much precious news space to non-news? Follow the money and the clicks.
Hopefully this won’t turn into 2016 when candidate trump received nearly $2 billion in free media exposure, dwarfing his Republican rivals and more than doubling the attention paid to then, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, according to tracking firm mediaQuant.
That year, trump ruled the airways, getting interviews ad nauseum, having his rallies and news conferences aired live and his outrageous, disgusting sexist and bigoted remarks attracting TV interviews like flies to shit. Famously, after a Friday night rally was cancelled, Trump dominated cable news by calling into CNN, MSNBC and Fox News for a total of 48 minutes. But this isn’t another column about trump, rather, it is about the unending supply of bad characters charading as politicians and how they’ve been blessed with a trumpian endorsement.
Of late, Trump has frequently posted his nonsense on the right wing “Telegram Messenger,” a hugely popular social messaging service around the world and the most popular social messaging service in Russia. The Telegram Messenger was launched in 2013 by two Russian billionaire brothers, Nikolai and Pavel Durov. Telegram, which is known for its lack of moderation when it comes to white supremacy, provides encrypted voice and video calls and encrypted “secret” chats. Users can send text and voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share an unlimited number of images. In January 2021, Telegram surpassed 500 million monthly active users and it was the most downloaded app worldwide with 1 billion downloads globally as of late August 2021.
The Durovs also formed VKontakte (VK), an online social media and social networking services based in St. Petersburg, Russia. As of August 2018, VK had at least 500 million accounts and it is the most popular website in Russia. The network was also popular in Ukraine until it was banned by its parliament in 2017. Last month, Telegram usage share jumped to 63 percent, overtaking WhatsApp’s usage share of 32 percent to become Russia’s most popular messaging tool. The company is valued in the range of $30 billion to $40 billion.
The Anti-Defamation League has called Telegram a white supremacist “safe haven” and a valuable tool for right-wing extremists. The neo-Nazi white separatist paramilitary hate group “The Base” switched to Telegram after being blocked on most social media platforms, including Twitter, YouTube and Gab. In August 2019, white supremacist Christopher Cantwell posted anti-Semitic comments on Telegram. Telegram also has been used by the alt-right organization “Proud Boys” to coordinate throughout the United States. Last August, the House select committee investigating the 2021 Capitol attack demanded records from going back to the spring of 2020.
Trump’s next rally on Saturday in Selma, N.C., is ostensibly a pitch to back the candidacy of Tedd Budd for Senate but it is really being billed as a trumpian lovefest. Scheduled speakers include Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, Congressional GOP candidate Bo Hines and Rep. Matthew Cawthorn, R-N.C., who recently gained universal opprobrium among Republicans for claiming he was invited to do drugs at a GOP congressional orgy. Trump has not publicly commented on Cawthorn’s claims, which he later retracted. Other planned speakers include Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C. and Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C.
In a video posted Wednesday on Rumble, a video sharing platform popular among the right wing, Trump said Budd is a “great conservative” who will be a “tremendous senator.”
Bishop was elected to Congress in a special election in 2019. As a member of the North Carolina State Senate from 2017 to 2019, Bishop was the lead author of North Carolina’s so-called “bathroom bill” to bar transgender people from using public restrooms other than those of their biological sex as defined on their birth certificates. The bill was later repealed after a widespread, public backlash.
In December 2020, Bishop was one of 126 Republican members of congress to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the U.S. Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Undaunted, Bishop came out on Jan. 6, 2021, as one of 147 Republican lawmakers who objected to the certification of electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election. Later that month, Bishop voted against impeaching trump for his role in inciting the mob to storm the Capitol.
Robinson, an Army veteran, became the first African American in 2021 to serve as the North Carolina lieutenant governor. His political career has been characterized by promotion of conspiracy theories and numerous incendiary statements.
Robinson’s 2020 campaign finance reports contained incomplete information on his campaign contributors, and shows questionable campaign expenditures, including spending on items for clothing for Robinson and wife. His campaign later blamed the miscues on “clerical errors.”
Robinson calls himself a “brash and unfiltered conservative culture warrior,” who opposes abortion and promotes climate change denial. His past comments were seen as anti-Semitic, including a claim that the Marvel movie “Black Panther” was “created by an agnostic Jew and put to film by satanic Marxist” that was “only created to pull the shekels out of your Schvartze pockets.” Robinson also endorsed claims by far right pastor Sean Moon, that a cabal of Jewish “international bankers” rule every country’s central bank.
Robinson has more than 100,000 Facebook followers and he often impugns transgender people and their supporters as trying to “glorify Satan,” while he also has gone after Muslims, former President Barack Obama and African-Americans who support Democrats.
In 2020, Robinson said the COVID-19 pandemic was a “globalist” conspiracy to defeat trump, and dismissed the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2021, Robinson declared in a speech that “Christian patriots of this nation will own this nation and rule this nation.”
Bo Hines, 26, comes from a football family. He played college football for the North Carolina State Wolfpack and Yale Bulldogs. Hines’ father, Todd Hines, played for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. Hines graduated from Yale but then decided to pursue a law degree from the Wake Forest School of Law “to escape the leftist propaganda of the Ivy League.”
In January 2021, Hines announced that he would run for the seat Budd is vacating in Congress as he tries for the Senate. On his website, Hines says he is “100 percent pro-life,” “100 percent pro-gun,” “100 percent pro-free speech” and “100 percent pro-trump.”
“I am as pro-gun as it gets. We all deserve the right to protect ourselves, our families, and our property. The Second Amendment protects these and all of our other rights from tyranny,” Hines wrote, with the declaration, “Let’s send Bo to DC to fight for our God-given right to keep and bear arms!”
In an obvious plug for trump’s unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, Hines also said he is “committed to securing our elections so the public can trust the outcome no matter who wins.”
He also said he is anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage.
“Life begins at conception and we must protect the rights of the unborn. I also believe in traditional marriage. We must fight to protect our core family values that are rooted in biblical principles,” he said.
Last month, Trump posted information about a “Save America Rally” that was held on March 12, in Florence, S.C.
“Will be honoring Katie Arrington, who is running against the absolutely horrendous Nancy Mace, and Russell Fry, who is likewise running against ‘doesn’t have a clue’ Tom Rice,” trump posted.
Arrington was seriously pro-trump when she ran and won the GOP primary for Congress in 2018, defeating Mark Sanford, who was one of trump’s strongest critics among Republicans in Congress. That was enough to gain trump’s endorsement of Arrington, who went on to lose in the general election. After losing the election, Arrington was appointed by Trump as chief information security officer for acquisition for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. Arrington quit college in her sophomore years to get married and the couple filed for bankruptcy in 1995. After divorcing, Arrington was hired by a small defense contracting company. That experience apparently was enough for her to be noted as a “highly qualified expert” with the Department of Defense. She was placed on leave and her security clearance was revoked in 2021 because of allegations of unauthorized disclosure of classified information from a military intelligence agency and misuse of office.
Mase was the first woman to be elected to Congress from South Carolina in 2021 and also was the first woman to graduate from the Corps of Cadets program at The Citadel. She served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2018–2020. Previously, she worked for trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and largely supported trump’s policies, including calling for an end to the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare.
In 2019, Mace revealed that she had been raped at age 16 and said that while she opposes abortion, she does not believe the government has the right to tell a victim of rape or incest they do not have the right to an abortion.
The Conservation Voters of South Carolina gave Mace a 100 percent lifetime rating and the South Carolina Club for Growth gave Mace its 2019 Tax Payer Hero Award.
During her primary campaign, Vice President Mike Pence called her “an extraordinary American with an extraordinary lifetime of accomplishments — past, present and future.” She won the primary and went on to victory in the general election.
But she made the fatal error when she was one of seven Republicans who publicly refused to support efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election on Jan. 6, 2021, the day of the assault on the Capitol. After a rioting mob attacked the House and Senate buildings, Mace pleaded with trump, to no avail, to condemn the invasion of pro-trumpers.
Fry, a 37-year-old lawyer and Eagle Scout, has been a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives since 2015. Fry was appointed to the position of majority chief whip for the 122nd South Carolina General Assembly in December 2018.
Most recently, Fry sponsored resolutions to congratulate the Wilson High School Boys Basketball Team for capturing the 2022 Class AAA state championship title; another to congratulate the University Of South Carolina women’s basketball team for winning the 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship; and most recently, a resolution to honor Marine Lt. Gen. Herman Stacy Clardy III, after retiring after nearly 40 years with the Marines.
Rice, a lawyer, has been a member of Congress since 2012. But he won trump’s lasting enmity when he was one of 10 Republicans to vote to impeach trump in the ex-president’s second impeachment. Rice criticized Trump for not offering condolences to those who were injured or the two police officers who died as a result of the Jan. 6, insurrection. Rice said, trump’s “utter failure” in the matter forced him to vote for impeachment.
For his bravery, Rice was censured by the South Carolina Republican Party.
Rice was one of 126 Republican members of the House to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the U.S. Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election. It was evidently too little and too late to win trump’s endorsement. Rice later said he had been mistaken in questioning the election. Rice also was one of 35 Republicans who joined Democrats in voting to approve legislation to establish the Jan. 6 commission to investigate the storming of the Capitol.