Two of our favorite congress members, Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene have been traversing the country with their little "America First" rallies, at which they promote the narrative that the election was stolen from Donald Trump (by who, specifically, they cannot say), downplaying the events of January 6 and spreading other ridiculous conspiracy theories.

Alas, they have found that their history of making incredibly racist and anti-Semitic statements and spreading disinformation has led to them not being particularly welcome in all the places they'd like to be. Especially in California. Earlier this month, after learning who the two speakers at the event would be, an Orange County venue canceled their planned rally there. So they decided to take their business to Riverside, which did not exactly thrill the local residents. People complained, and last night, a mere 24 hours before they were set to go on, the venue there canceled as well.

Via The Press-Enterprise:

"I recognize this was a divisive issue in our community, and I am glad it has been resolved," Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said, commending the operator in a statement.

"Riverside is a diverse and inclusive community, so it is heartening to hear that this event will not move forward," Mayor Pro Tem Gaby Plascencia said. "I am disappointed we even got to this point, because these speakers are the antithesis of everything Riverside stands for."[...]

Earlier Friday, while a Riverside city councilman sympathized with the rally's opponents, he said the city did not have the authority to cancel the event. On Friday night, that councilmember — Ronaldo Fierro — thanked residents for speaking out.

"Today we proved that the City of Riverside will not stand for hate and white nationalist rhetoric within our communities," Fierro tweeted.

Later in the evening, on Twitter, a very normal Marjorie Taylor Greene announced that they had found a new venue in Orange County and would be holding their rally there, at the Anaheim Event Center.

Greene explained that all of the people trying to cancel her event due to not wanting that kind of racist, conspiracist nonsense in their town were radical communists, and that their chosen venue had been "bullied" with "violent threats from BLM/Antifa" — all of which appears to have occurred in her own imagination.

While it's understandable that people don't want Gaetz and Greene in their neighborhood, spreading that kind of hatred, the fact is, people who are going to see Gaetz and Greene Live In Concert are probably not people who need any convincing to believe the election was stolen or that the moon is made of delicious cheese. They're already there. It seems unlikely that they'd be picking up any new recruits, and hey, at least they're in an enclosed space. They did their best.

I will admit though that I'm a little concerned that venues and towns are doing people like Greene and Gaetz a favor when they give them the boot. I worry that it feeds into this whole "Oh no! We're being censored!" narrative that the Right has built up, which may make it even more attractive to certain people. The kind of people I don't think are likely to go "Well, if they're getting kicked out of places, there's probably a good reason for that."

But hey! I could be wrong and I hope I am.

UPDATE: Gaetz and Greene even more unpopular than previously thought, and have now been rejected by the Anaheim Event Center.

[Press-Enterprise]

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