Republicans

The Daily Beast reports: The event, held at the state Capitol in Tallahassee, principally featured various COVID-19 masking skeptics. They included a Stanford professor with a history of opposing lockdowns, and a Tallahassee private school student who was “very concerned about masks being required this year.” Still, the standout may have been Mark McDonald [photo], a Los Angeles clinical psychiatrist. …

The Tennessean reports: More than half of the state’s Senate Republican Caucus signed a letter Tuesday urging Tennesseans to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, a sudden acceleration of pro-vaccine rhetoric from leading conservatives as hospitalizations from the virus have begun to rapidly increase. While statewide vaccination rates have stalled, the delta variant of the virus is causing coronavirus cases to surge …

The Daily Beast reports: Members of the so-called sedition caucus, the moniker given to Republican lawmakers who have refused to acknowledge the truth of what happened on Jan. 6, were chased out of their own press conference on Tuesday by a man blowing a whistle and a protester holding a “RAPIST” sign. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who is under federal …

Forbes reports: Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) bought and sold more than $1 million worth of securities during his first five months in the Senate, buying and selling stock in some companies with business before his committees, according to a filing released Friday. A member of the Armed Services Committee, Tuberville made four separate purchases of Alcoa, a defense contractor, totaling …

The New York Daily News reports: Nancy Pelosi is being sued by Marjorie Taylor Greene and two other GOP reps who say her mask mandate inside the House chamber caused “segregation” among lawmakers. Greene unveiled the lawsuit alongside Rep, Thomas Massie, and Rep. Ralph Norman during a press conference on Tuesday morning. The QAnon conspiracy theorist, who once likened mask …

CNN reports: The Justice Department formally declined to assert executive privilege for potential testimony of at least some witnesses related to the January 6 Capitol attack, a person briefed on the matter said. The decision paves the way for some former Justice Department officials to testify on what they witnessed in the chaotic days between former President Donald Trump’s November …

The Hill reports: House GOP leaders teed off on Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Tuesday morning, accusing the Speaker of neglecting her duty to defend the Capitol on Jan. 6 and demanding answers about her role in the violent attack that injured more than 140 police officers. “On Jan. 6 these brave officers were put into a vulnerable, and impossible position …

Politico reports: As DeSantis encourages vaccinations — he said “vaccines are saving lives” — he is facing a backlash from the anti-vaccination wing of his political base. It’s the same group that praised him and helped thrust him onto the national stage for his hands-off approach to the virus. DeSantis, with 2024 presidential ambitions, has to walk the line between …

The Casper Tribune reports: Former Sen. Mike Enzi died Monday after suffering serious injuries in a recent bike accident. He was 77. The announcement of Enzi’s passing came in a tweet posted at 11:14 p.m. to his senatorial Twitter account. The Gillette News Record reported that Enzi was biking near his home in Gillette shortly before 8:30 p.m. Friday when …

The Daily Beast reports: Rep. Matt Gaetz’s future sister-in-law appears to have had more than enough of the Florida congressman, posting three TikTok videos in the last two days slamming him as “weird and creepy” and “a literal pedophile.” Roxanne Luckey — the sister of Gaetz’s fiancée, Ginger Luckey — was sharply critical of the congressman and his treatment of …

The Texas Tribune reports: Former President Donald Trump has backed Attorney General Ken Paxton for reelection, passing over primary challenger George P. Bush in bestowing the highly sought-after endorsement. “It is going to take a PATRIOT like Ken Paxton to advance America First policies in order to Make America Great Again,” Trump said in a statement Monday evening. Bush made …

Via email from right wing columnist Erick Erickson: Marjorie Taylor Green, the QAnon Congresswoman, is shaming a restaurant in Atlanta. I think it’s called Argosy or something like that. It’s in Hipsterville, Atlanta. They put up a sign outside asking that only vaccinated people come inside. This happened after several of their staff got COVID and they had to shut …

The American Independent reports: Four far-right House Republicans have announced that they will hold a news conference outside the Department of Justice on Tuesday to demand “answers from Attorney General (AG) Merrick Garland on the status of January 6th prisoners and related investigations.” Reps. Matt Gaetz (FL), Louie Gohmert (TX), Paul Gosar (AZ), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) say they …

CBS News reports: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy mocked Republican Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger Monday as “Pelosi Republicans” Monday over their appointment to the select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol assault. A small number of Republicans are pushing for Cheney and Kinzinger to be punished for agreeing to serve on the select committee. McCarthy made the comments …

Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing Watch: Mike Pompeo, a former Republican member of Congress who served as director of the CIA and secretary of state during the Trump administration, spoke at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills church in California Sunday, which was founded by right-wing pastor Jack Hibbs. Following Pomepo’s remarks during the early Sunday service, he and Hibbs sat …

Pittsburgh’s NBC News reports: Charlie Gerow, a Republican who announced his candidacy for governor last month, said Friday that he is cooperating with a police investigation into an accident in which a motorcyclist was killed, and that shut down the Pennsylvania Turnpike for seven hours. Gerow apparently drove for several miles with the motorcycle stuck to the front of his …

Newsweek reports: Ted Cruz has hit out at Nancy Pelosi and branded the January 6 commission a “sham” in a Twitter attack. The firebrand Republican Senator called out the Democrat House Speaker as she prepares a panel to examine the cause of the riot at the U.S. Capitol and how to avoid repeat scenes. Sen. Cruz said in the tweet, …

The Hill reports: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) advised officials working to convince unvaccinated Americans to receive a coronavirus inoculation to focus on explaining the facts about vaccines rather than mandates. “The vaccines do work,” Christie said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “Every focus group I’ve been in, Republicans who are not vaccinated, you have to walk them …

NBC News reports: A Republican member of Congress from Louisiana said Sunday that he was sick with Covid-19 for the second time as a surge of new infections hits parts of the U.S. with low vaccination rates. Referring to the disease as the “biological attack weaponized virus” from China, Rep. Clay Higgins said on Facebook that the latest infection is …

From an op-ed in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: A few months ago, I decided to take advantage of President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed and get vaccinated. Like many of you, I have had a lot of misinformation thrown at me by politicians and the media during the pandemic. And, like many of you, I spent a lot of time sorting through …