Republicans

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz writes: Washington scandal cycles are predictable, and sex is especially potent in politics. Let me first remind everyone that I am a representative in Congress, not a monk, and certainly not a criminal. Nancy Pelosi once defended President Bill Clinton after he got an intern to fellate him in the Oval Office. But when it comes …

Little Rock’s ABC News affiliate reports: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Monday that he vetoed a bill that would ban gender confirming hormone treatment for trans youths. Hutchinson called the bill “well-intended but off course” and said it was “overbroad.” “We are creating new standards of legislating interference for physicians and parents as they deal with some of the most …

The Texas Tribune reports: Comments by Sery Kim, a Korean American who served in the Small Business Administration under President Donald Trump, prompted California U.S. Reps. Young Kim and Michelle Steel to rescind their endorsements of her Friday. Young Kim and Steel are the first Korean American GOP women to serve in Congress. “We cannot in good conscience continue to …

USA Today reports: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that he would not be participating in the first pitch ceremony during the Texas Rangers’ home opener at Globe Life Field because of the MLB’s decision to move its All-Star Game from Atlanta over recent voting legislation that passed in Georgia. Abbott made the announcement in an open letter to Neil …

First, a reminder about this guy: Luke Ball, the communications director for Congressman Matt Gaetz, resigned from his position on Friday amid allegations that Gaetz had an inappropriate sexual encounter with a minor and a reported investigation into alleged violations of federal sex trafficking laws. “The Office of Congressman Matt Gaetz and Luke Ball have agreed that it would be …

From the far-right Moonie Times: A number of Georgia Republicans are pushing the unthinkable — kicking Coca-Cola out of state legislative offices over its criticism of Georgia’s new voting rules. In a letter to Coca-Cola that reporters posted to social media, eight members of the House of Representatives declared their offices Coke-free zones and demanded that the Atlanta-based soda behemoth …

Mediaite reports: “Lil Nas X twerking on Satan seems positively wholesome compared to the news this week concerning Matt Gaetz,” Oliver quipped on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight. Oliver cracked that Fox News host Tucker Carlson was “so clearly trying to ‘nope’ his way out of that whole interview,” joking that Gaetz is the “one white man on Earth that Tucker …

The Daily Beast reports: Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar paints himself as a free speech advocate, but he’s never seen a sex worker he didn’t want to censor. This week, Gosar, the GOP author of the “Stop Censorship Act of 2020,” penned a letter begging Attorney General Merrick Garland to shut down OnlyFans and investigate the porn platform for violating the …

Reuters reports: Since the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have pushed false and misleading accounts to downplay the event that left five dead and scores of others wounded. His supporters appear to have listened. Three months after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to try to overturn …

CBS News has the transcript: Sharyn Alfonsi: Publix, as you know, donated $100,000 to your campaign. And then you rewarded them with the exclusive rights to distribute the vaccination in Palm Beach County. Ron DeSantis: So, first of all, that– what you’re saying is wrong. That’s– Sharyn Alfonsi: How is that not pay to play? Ron DeSantis: –that– that’s a …

The New York Post reports: Long Island GOP Reps. Lee Zeldin and Andrew Garbarino took a victory lap after the MTA and Long Island Railroad announced they would reverse service cuts, despite the lawmakers voting against the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill that made the service restoration possible. Garbarino and Zeldin “urged the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and Long Island Rail …

“It’s got sex, it’s got drugs, it has Matt Gaetz, who is a very polarizing figure and he’s a very staunch supporter of Donald Trump so people either really love him or they really hate him. But I think it’s been really interesting. “Buying expensive gifts for women and sleeping with them – that isn’t illegal. We still need to …

The Detroit News reports: Dominion Voting Systems is demanding that Patrick Colbeck, a former Michigan lawmaker, retract “false claims” he’s been making about the company in PowerPoint presentations. Dominion sent Colbeck, who’s from Canton, a letter on Friday, according to a document obtained by The Detroit News. The company says Colbeck is waging a “disinformation campaign” while touring Michigan to …

Pew Research reports: As partisan conflicts over voting access take center stage in Congress and in scores of states around the country, the share of Americans who say “everything possible” should be done to make voting easy has declined since 2018 – with the decrease coming entirely among Republicans. Republicans and Democrats take dramatically different positions on this issue. An …

The Hill reports: On “Fox News Sunday,” Chris Wallace displayed graphics indicating that the national debt grew by trillions during former President Trump’s term in the White House, while asking Blunt whether the GOP had any “credibility” on the issue after their votes for the Republican tax reform plan in 2017 that lowered the corporate tax rate. “Haven’t you lost …

NBC News reports: “Saturday Night Live” roasted U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz following Tuesday’s New York Times report that federal investigators were trying determine if he engaged in sex trafficking or had a relationship with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, has repeatedly denied the allegations and said they’re part of an extortion plot in which he’s the victim. …

The Huffington Post reports: Amid a raging upsurge in attacks on Asian Americans, former Arkansas Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee posted an outrageously dismissive, mocking tweet about people of Chinese ancestry in America. Huckabee appeared to be mocking a connection between opposition to racist hate and concerns about vote suppression in Georgia and free speech criticism against it. Both Coca-Cola and …

Fox News reports: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Saturday said the decision to pull the Major League Baseball All-Star Game over objections to changes to his state’s voting laws was a “political play.” Appearing on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Kemp said it was “unfortunate” that the league had “caved to cancel culture” and accused President Biden, Georgia activist Stacey Abrams …

The Guardian reports: The Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz appears increasingly politically isolated amid a spiralling scandal over a federal sex-trafficking investigation. Even for Donald Trump, one Republican political operative said, “a 10ft pole is not long enough”. Few Republicans have rushed to offer any kind of support to Gaetz, a three-term conservative provocateur known for support of Trump, high-volume …

The Washington Post reports: Nearly 200 companies on Friday joined in a strong statement against proposals that threaten to restrict voting access in dozens of states, in a further sign of corporate willingness to speak out on social justice issues. As Major League Baseball announced that it will be moving this summer’s All-Star Game out of Atlanta in response to …