Republicans

ABC News reports: Unpersuaded by more than 100,000 pandemic deaths in the United States, 45% of strong conservatives, four in 10 Republicans and nearly as many evangelical Christians say they’d be unlikely to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, even for free. Overall, 27% of adults in an ABC News/Washington Post poll say they definitely (15%) or probably (12%) would not …

The Hill reports: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Monday that the protesters removed from Lafayette Park “deliberately stayed to trigger police action.” The Florida senator tweeted that “many in the media fell for the calculated & deliberate tactics of professional agitators.” Law enforcement deployed tear gas into a crowd of peaceful protesters outside Lafayette Park across the street from the …

The Hill reports: The filing deadline for primary candidates competing to run in the U.S. Senate race in Kansas passed Monday without notice from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was earlier tapped as a promising choice for the GOP. The Kansas race is viewed as a key seat for Republicans to win in an effort to keep control of …

Politico reports: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) is calling for the use of the military — including an Army division that specializes in air assault operations — to quell the violent protests that have erupted in cities across the country. Cotton, often mentioned as a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate, made his push in tweets and on morning television, arguing that …

Mediaite reports: Senator Tim Scott (R- SC) said on Fox News Sunday that he doesn’t believe some of President Donald Trump’s tweets in the past week on Minneapolis and the protests and riots going on have been constructive. “There is a lower value on an African-American male life than it is on a white woman’s life. And that is part …

Salon reports: RNC Chairwoman McDaniel announced on Sunday that the RNC, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the California Republican Party had sued Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom after he announced that all registered voters in the state would receive mail-in ballots for the upcoming elections. “Newsom’s illegal power grab is a recipe for disaster that would destroy the confidence Californians …

NBC News reports: Despite President Donald Trump’s continued threats to yank the Republican National Convention from North Carolina, GOP officials and the state’s Democratic governor are preparing adjustments for the mass gathering to take place in Charlotte, as planned, and there haven’t been any serious discussions with new venues in other states yet, according to people involved in the discussions. …

Axios reports: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), in a letter Friday to the Justice and Treasury departments, is calling for a criminal investigation of Twitter over allegations the company is violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. The big picture: Twitter is already under fire from the Trump administration over its decision to put a fact-checking label on two of the president’s tweets. …

“This may be attractive from a distance to some at any given moment, but it’s a very dangerous, slippery slope to start opening the door to having the government regulate these platforms. Governments have force as their only real weapon. You don’t want force deciding the art of persuasion or deciding the art of communication with social media. “You don’t …

Topeka’s CBS News affiliate reports: Former Secretary of State Kris Kobach filed his paperwork for candidacy in the Senate primary this afternoon at the Secretary of State’s Office. Kobach said he believes a “proven conservative voice” is needed in Kansas, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kobach also said the U.S. should lessen their dependency on China and reassess their relationship …

Tucson Weekly reports: Retired astronaut Mark Kelly holds a 10-percentage-point lead over appointed U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, according to a new survey by one of the state’s most respected political consulting firms, Highground Public Affairs Consultants. More than half the voters surveyed, 51.3 percent, supported Kelly in the poll, while McSally had the support of just 41.3 percent. Kelly, who …

ABC News reports: Wading into a politically charged issue, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday preached the importance of wearing masks in public as the nation’s economy reopens from the “cataclysmic” damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic. During a tour of hospitals this week in his home state of Kentucky, the Republican leader has stressed wearing masks in public …

The Washington Post reports: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey O. Graham on Thursday urged federal judges who are in their mid-to-late 60s to step aside so that Republicans, increasingly nervous about holding the Senate majority in the November election as they eye President Trump’s poll numbers, can fill the vacancies now. Graham made the comments in an interview with conservative …

USA Today reports: Rejecting claims raised by state Democrats, the Texas Supreme Court ruled late Wednesday that a lack of immunity to the coronavirus does not entitle voters to a mail-in ballot under state law. Texas election law limits mail-in ballots to specific categories of voters, such as those with a disability that prevents them from safely traveling to a …

Spotlight Pennsylvania reports: A Republican state lawmaker from Central Pennsylvania confirmed Wednesday that he tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this month, leading at least one of his House colleagues to self-quarantine. The admission immediately ignited outrage among Democrats in the chamber who said they were recklessly left in the dark for nearly a week about the lawmaker’s condition. State …

The Hill reports: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Wednesday separately announced they were both working on legislation to strip Twitter of federal protections that ensure the company is not held liable for what is posted on its platform. The lawmakers began work on legislation following Twitter’s decision to add warnings to two tweets by President …

Right winger Erick Erickson writes: I don’t really care what you think about Joe Scarborough, but no American deserves to have the President of the United States targeting him with accusations of murder. No American deserves the President of the United States tweeting out salacious and unproven accusations suggesting murder and conspiracy. The deceased’s family does not deserve it. Her …

The Guardian reports: A powerful new conservative organization fighting to restrict voting in the 2020 presidential election is really just a rebranded group that is part of a dark money network already helping Donald Trump’s unprecedented effort to remake the US federal judiciary, the Guardian and OpenSecrets reveal. The organization, which calls itself the Honest Elections Project, seemed to emerge …

The New York Daily News reports: Mitt Romney weighed in Wednesday on President Donald Trump’s insinuation that Joe Scarborough murdered a former aide – condemning the accusations ‘vile’ and ‘baseless.’ The public rebuke from the Utah senator and Republican Party’s 2012 nominee came on a morning when the president once again put forth unproven suggestions about the conspiracy theory, despite …

USA Today reports: With a global pandemic threatening to hit the United States earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Phil Roe made hundreds of financial transactions, buying stocks in companies now working on vaccines and selling other shares before a historic market plunge in March. While it’s unclear if the stock trades were based on information unavailable to the public, Roe’s …