Republicans

The New York Times reports: As tensions between the two sides mount, the Chinese government announced on Monday that it would impose sanctions on three American lawmakers and a diplomat in retaliation for similar moves last week by the Trump administration against four officials in China. The largely symbolic sanctions targeted Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Senator Ted Cruz of …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said he would call former special counsel Robert Mueller to testify about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign, a day after Mr. Mueller broke nearly a year of public silence through an opinion article defending his probe and the related conviction of Trump adviser …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: Wisconsin congressman Glenn Grothman broke out into an unmasked coughing fit at the microphone of his speech at the GOP state convention in Green Bay on Saturday. “Let’s talk about Donald John Trump,” Grothman said as he began to cough uncontrollably. After several seconds, Grothman regained composure and adjusted his tie. Grothman, who is 65, falls …

The Hill reports: President Trump late Saturday lashed out at a pair of Republican senators after they criticized his decision to commute the prison sentence of longtime confidant and former campaign adviser Roger Stone. Romney and Toomey are so far the only Republican senators to publicly rebuke Trump’s move to commute Stone’s sentence. The former Republican operative was due to …

Raw Story reports: Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday said calls for a boycott of Goya Foods because its CEO praised President Donald Trump were an attempt to “silence free speech.” But one year ago, the Texas Republican encouraged people to boycott Nike after the company halted plans to sell shoes featuring the Betsy Ross flag that some say glorifies slavery …

WTF Florida reports: St. Johns County Commissioner Paul Waldron caught the coronavirus and went into septic shock after voting against a motion to mandate masks for county employees last week. His daughter posted on Facebook on July 9 that Waldron “went into septic shock and has many organs struggling.” “He is currently in the most critical of conditions,” she wrote. …

Mediaite reports: Ann Coulter, who wrote the book In Trump We Trust, has been far more critical of the president recently, calling him a “moron” and a “blithering idiot” just two months ago. Now Coulter is calling for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to lose in November to Democratic opponent Amy McGrath, who recently won the nomination in a close …

The Texas Tribune reports: With Texas continuing to break records for new coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations this week, Gov. Greg Abbott reiterated Friday afternoon that things will continue to get worse. And if people keep flouting his new statewide mask mandate, he said, the next step could be another economic lockdown. “Things will get worse, and let me explain why,” …

The New York Times reports: When President Trump first threatened to pull the Republican National Convention out of Charlotte, N.C., Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida started campaigning to bring the event to his state. But now, as convention planners in Jacksonville seek to raise tens of millions of dollars on an almost impossibly rushed time frame, and in the middle …

The Hill reports: Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) on Thursday called it “tragic” to see people object to wearing masks during the coronavirus pandemic, including at President Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., last month. “I’m reminding people to wear masks every time they’re with other people outside of their family, particularly in a public place that’s inside,” Upton said at …

The Biloxi Sun-Herald reports: Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is mandating masks and limiting social gatherings by early next week in Harrison, Jackson and 11 other counties with high spread of COVID-19, he said at his regular news conference Thursday afternoon. He said masks must be worn in these counties in “all shopping environments” and at social gatherings. Social gatherings in …

The Texas Tribune reports: The Republican Party of Texas is suing Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and others involved with the canceling of the party’s in-person convention, which was scheduled to happen next week. On Wednesday, Houston First Corporation, the operator of the George R. Brown Convention Center, sent a letter to party officials informing them that the event had been …

The Washington Post reports: The Republican convention in Jacksonville, Fla., next month could be moved to an outdoor stadium as cases of the novel coronavirus in the state increase, according to several officials with knowledge of the plans. While no decision has been made, Republican officials are studying two outdoor professional sports stadiums near the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena where …

CNN reports: Several attorneys in Jacksonville, Florida, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the city in an attempt to block the Republican National Convention from occurring there amid the coronavirus pandemic. The complaint, filed in Duval County, lists many reasons against Jacksonville hosting the event, including that it would be “a nuisance injurious to the health (and) welfare” of the city’s …

The Monroe News-Star reports: A Louisiana lawmaker said people who refuse to wear masks during the coronavirus pandemic are being treated like Jews in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. State Rep. Danny McCormick, R-Oil City, posted a Facebook video Tuesday railing against mask mandates as an assault on liberty. It was triggered by a mask mandate issued by Shreveport Mayor …

“There’s a lot of suspicion, and I think there’s a lot of truth to this, that they had a lot of the – when you put in the new homes you have the meters that go in there – these meters were set off by a lucid ray beam that blew up these meters in the start of the Paradise …

The Texas Tribune reports: The Republican Party of Texas’ in-person convention next week has been canceled, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Wednesday. The news came after Turner directed the city’s legal department to work with the Houston First Corp., which operates the George R. Brown Convention Center, to review the contract with the state party. Turner said officials with Houston …

Politico reports: Miami’s Republican Mayor Francis Suarez refused to commit on Wednesday to voting for President Donald Trump in November. “I want to see what both candidates have to offer for the urban communities before making up my mind on who I’m going to support,” Suarez said in an interview with POLITICO Nightly author Renuka Rayasam. The non-committal answer from …

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler objected to the WNBA’s plans to honor the Black Lives Matter movement, warning Tuesday that subscribing to a “particular political agenda undermines the potential of the sport and sends a message of exclusion.” Loeffler, a Republican who co-owns Atlanta’s WNBA franchise, urged Commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a letter to scrap plans for …

Axios reports: At least five GOP senators have said they will not attend next month’s Republican National Convention in Jacksonville either due to coronavirus concerns or political reasons. For some, like 86-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and 80-year-old Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the decision not to attend underscores broader concerns about holding mass gatherings in the coronavirus era. For others, …