Republicans

The Orlando Sentinel reports: While serving in the Florida Legislature, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz opposed a bill meant to stop people from sharing sexually explicit images of their ex-lovers because Gaetz believed that recipients of those images had a right to share them, according to the sponsor of the legislation. Former state Rep. Tom Goodson, a Republican from Brevard County, …

Albany’s ABC News affiliate reports: Albany County Legislator George Langdon, who represents the 37th legislative district, has announced his resignation. Langdon’s resignation followed a Friday night rally calling on Langdon to resign. He’d previously apologized for comments that offended many locals. “Apology not accepted!” chanted protestors at Friday’s demonstration. Langdon was caught on video last week making homophobic comments during …

Billings’s CBS News affiliate reports: Gov. Greg Gianforte tested positive for COVID-19 Monday. The governor exhibited mild symptoms Sunday and took the test Monday out of an abundance of caution, according to his office. Following his doctor’s instructions and public health guidance, the governor is isolating for 10 days. Gianforte, 59, received his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on …

Reuters reports: U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell lashed out at corporate America on Monday, warning CEOs to stay out of the debate over a new voting law in Georgia that has been criticized as restricting votes among minorities and the poor. In a sign of a growing rift in the decades-old alliance between the conservative party and U.S. corporations, …

The Texas Tribune reports: Last month, Gov. Greg Abbott blasted the actions of Facebook as “un-American [and] un-Texan,” accusing it and other social media giants of spearheading a “dangerous movement to silence conservative voices.” At the same time, his office was working quietly with the company with the hope that it will soon build a second data center in the …

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 …