- When House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy included Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan—along with Indiana Rep. Jim Banks—among his choices for a House Select Committee investigating the Capitol siege, he underscored his top priority: Force Nancy Pelosi’s hand to jettison them and undermine the investigation. Both Jordan and Banks are known to be combative Trump defenders. They are the antithesis of integrity.
Jordan, a founding member of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus–and who led the effort to discredit the Russia investigation–didn’t just vote to overturn the election. He also met with Trump a few weeks before Jan. 6 to help plan the catalytic election challenge. He’s a potential material witness—as well as a smug, Trump-sniffing punk who gives contentious partisanship a bad name. He also was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by Trump right before he left office.
- According to a report by the (conservative) American Enterprise Institute, nearly 40 percent of Republicans polled agreed with the statement: “If elected leaders will not protect America, the people must do it themselves, even if it requires violent actions.”
- “The share of Americans who are more socially disconnected from society is on the rise. And these voters disproportionately support Trump.” Daniel Cox, senior fellow in polling and public opinion at the (conservative) American Enterprise Institute.
- None of the states that rank ahead of Florida in vaccination rate voted for Trump in 2020.
- “The only thing I care about is electability.”—Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
- The top fund-raiser among U.S. senators—other than Majority Leader Chuck Schumer—is Tim Scott, the African-American Republican from South Carolina who has made it a point to not “demonize” the police. He raked in more than $9.5 million in the months after his high-profile, State of the Union response. One of the results: speculation about his 2024 ambitions.
- “Bravo, Eric Clapton. Artists should defend individual liberty.” That was bravo-challenged Sen. Ted Cruz’s shout-out after Clapton announced he won’t be playing in any venues that require audiences to show vaccination proof.
- “American exceptionalism” has to stand for something other than a disingenuously partisan misapplication of anything said or printed in the name of “freedom” and “individual liberty.” Patrick Henry would be appalled.