Republicans

The Texas Tribune reports: From his booth in the exhibit hall of the Texas GOP’s 2024 convention, Steve Hotze [photo] saw an army of God assembled before him. For four decades, Hotze, an indicted election fraud conspiracy theorist, has helmed hardline anti-abortion movements and virulently homophobic campaigns against LGTBQ+ rights, comparing gay people to Nazis and helping popularize the “groomer” …

“Bob Good is BAD FOR VIRGINIA, AND BAD FOR THE USA. He turned his back on our incredible movement, and was constantly attacking and fighting me until recently, when he gave a warm and ‘loving’ Endorsement – But really, it was too late. The damage had been done! “I just want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and the person that …

CNN reports: Powerful storms are delivering yet another round of violent weather to Texas on Tuesday after an almost unrelenting parade of destructive and sometimes deadly storms in recent weeks. Additional storms will pound more of the Southern Plains throughout the day. Storms were roaring through the Dallas-Fort Worth metro early Tuesday morning, delivering hurricane-force wind gusts and stirring tornado …

Politico reports: Few are clamoring for Herschel Walker’s return to politics since he flamed out in his Georgia Senate bid nearly two years ago. But they sure are interested in his campaign cash. Georgia and national Republicans, in dire need of money, are furious that Walker is sitting on more than $4 million in leftover campaign funds and seems to …

Popular Information reports: Training materials produced by the Florida Department of Education direct middle and high school teachers to indoctrinate students in the tenets of Christian nationalism, a right-wing effort to merge Christian and American identities. Thousands of Florida teachers, lured by cash stipends, have attended trainings featuring these materials. According to speaker notes accompanying one slide, teachers were told …

Politico reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans have spent years aggressively turning the state into a haven for school choice. They have been wildly successful, with tens of thousands more children enrolling in private or charter schools or homeschooling. Now as those programs balloon, some of Florida’s largest school districts are facing staggering enrollment declines — and grappling with …

CBS News reports: The National Park Service (NPS) denied claims that park officials at Denali National Park ordered a construction crew to not fly the American flag over Memorial Day weekend. The claim appears to have originated from a report by Alaska Watchman, a conservative news outlet, which cited an anonymous construction worker. On Friday, Republican Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan …

“Today I turned 50! Many people go into their 50th birthday thinking it’s a bad thing, but I truly feel it’s wonderful and I’m so excited and grateful God let me live 50 years and do so many things. “From being the first person to graduate college in my family, to carrying 3 babies in my womb and the absolute …

“I don’t believe anybody deserves absolute immunity. You know, the fact of the matter is that’s the last thing I’d want to do. That sounds a whole lot like the position we got rid of when we fought the Revolutionary War. Kings have absolute immunity. I don’t believe presidents should.” – GOP Sen. Thom Tillis, speaking to CNN’s Manu Raju. …

CNN reports: Rep. Tony Gonzales called his GOP opponent in Texas a “neo-Nazi” and an “anarchist” intent on “burning the place down” — and said Republican hardliners seeking to oust him are a bunch of “scumbags” and MAGA wannabes. In an interview with CNN, the two-term Texas GOP congressman said the outcome of Tuesday’s runoff against gun activist Brandon Herrera …

Mediaite reports: Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) repeatedly ducked when Dana Bash confronted him about Trump’s claim that he “nearly escaped death” during the 2023 FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago. Scott, in response, said, “I saw the video of the SWAT team from the FBI raiding Mar-A-Lago. I have not seen the same video of them raiding Joe Biden’s garage, so I’d …

The Texan reports: Former Collin County GOP Chair Abraham George was elected the next chairman of the Republican Party of Texas (RPT), succeeding outgoing Chair Matt Rinaldi, who endorsed George for the spot. ”I am humbled and honored to have received the support of thousands of my fellow Republicans and be elected as chairman of the Republican Party of Texas,” …

The Texas Tribune reports: Republican Party of Texas delegates voted Saturday on a platform that called for new laws to require the Bible to be taught in public schools and a constitutional amendment that would require statewide elected leaders to win the popular vote in a majority of Texas counties. Other proposed planks of the 50-page platform included proclamations that …

The Associated Press reports: A new South Dakota policy to stop the use of gender pronouns by public university faculty and staff in official correspondence is also keeping Native American employees from listing their tribal affiliations in a state with a long and violent history of conflict with tribes. It came only months after Republican Gov. Kristi Noem sent a …

“Okay, so I just finished speaking at the Libertarian Convention and then President Trump spoke right after me. This was amazing. No other president in history, to my knowledge, has ever showed up at another political party’s convention, openly asked for their endorsement, and just really hit the ground running. Well done, President Trump. I think you won the hearts …

The Daily Beast reports: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), who is reportedly a top contender for Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, has jumped on the bandwagon of flying the Christian nationalist “Appeal To Heaven” flag. While Cotton correctly identified the flag’s Revolutionary War origins, it was more recently co-opted by religious pro-Trump insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol. The flag Cotton …

The Hill reports: A ban on intoxicating hemp products has made it into the House version of the farm bill. If the amendment makes it through a polarized House and divided Congress, it would end America’s brief experiment with nationally legal cannabis. The language added to the House version of the farm bill by Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) in effect …

Baton Rouge’s ABC affiliate reports: First-of-its-kind legislation that classifies two abortion-inducing drugs as controlled and dangerous substances was signed into law Friday by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry. The Republican governor announced his signing of the bill in Baton Rouge a day after it gained final legislative passage in the state Senate. The measure makes Louisiana the only state to categorize …

Bloomberg News reports: Blackstone Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Schwarzman says he will raise money for Donald Trump’s campaign, handing the presumptive Republican nominee a major win as he builds his donor base. The billionaire private equity chief and heavyweight political donor has long been a major source of funding for Republicans, but he has kept mum for months over …

“The controversy over Justice Alito flying the ‘Appeal to Heaven’ flag is absurd and anti-historical. The flag was commissioned by George Washington in 1775 for use on six cruiser ships intercepting British vessels at sea and became the maritime flag of Massachusetts. The flag draws its meaning from John Locke: “And where the Body of the People, or any single …