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The confederacy of dunces that is the Republican Party is still at war with itself.
Much has been made about Wyoming representative Liz Cheney, daughter of Dick, almost certainly losing her GOP House leadership position for consistently affirming that Donald Trump lost the election and incited the January 6 insurrection. While Wonkette won't be crying tears of sorrow for a Cheney , we can also recognize that Republicans replacing her for not being beholden to a tinpot dictator wannabe is insane.
Take Indiana GOP Rep. Jim Banks, who is leading the charge to remove Cheney, on "Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace. Wallace began by pointing out that the person that Republicans want to replace Cheney with, New York FOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, is not quite as conservative as Cheney, which means this decidedly is not about policy, but rather something else :
(Unfortunately we have no embeddable video clip for you on this, but if you want to watch it, you can click here and skip forward to the hour and 12 minute mark.)
WALLACE: I want to put up their voting records because it's pretty interesting. Take a look. Cheney has an 80 percent voting record from the conservative group Heritage Action. Stefanik's score is 48 percent. Cheney voted with Trump positions these last four years 93 percent of the time. Stefanik voted with Trump positions 78 percent of the time.
If Cheney is being replaced and -- and she's clearly, it seems, more conservative than Stefanik, is it just because of the fact that she's not as loyal to Donald Trump?
Banks said loyalty to Trump isn't the reason Cheney is being replaced, but a lack of focus on opposing President Joe Biden's agenda. Wallace pushed back on this while Banks tried to deflect:
WALLACE: What is it about Liz Cheney that isn't focusing on this mission? She opposes Joe Biden's agenda very strongly.
BANKS: Well, that -- that -- that has not been as seen as much as most of us in the Republican conference would like to see. […] And, at this point, the reason, Chris, that you and I are talking about Liz Cheney on this important program on Sunday morning is -- is exact -- the exact evidence that she's failed in her mission as the chief spokesperson of our party. We shouldn't be talking about Liz Cheney, we should be talking about pushing back against the radical Biden agenda. And this is all a distraction from our ability to be able to do that. That -- that's why she will likely be replaced this week.
Cheney is being replaced is because the news of her replacement is distracting? That's some very strange circular logic. It's like saying, "I will stop hitting you as soon as you stop crying because I'm hitting you."
The reality is that Banks isn't complaining about Cheney herself being the focus of a the story, but that she insists on acknowledging a reality they are trying to ignore.
Here's more Banks -- this time with video! -- trying to have it both ways.
Jim Banks refuses to acknowledge that Donald Trump bears any responsibility for the January 6 insurrection he encou… https: //t.co/HlVcPyZXSN
— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1620568466.0
This isn't Schrödinger's presidency, Banks. You can't "stand by" your vote to call the election illegitimate and try to overturn it AND pretend like you have accepted that Joe Biden is president.
To Republicans like Banks, Joe Biden is "technically" president, while Trump is still their president. The unyielding loyalty to a guy who lost them control of House, Senate and White House is ludicrous.
In other news of Sunday show Republicans, Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy just wants all the Republicans to get along, the ones who agree with Liz Cheney, and the ones who are destroying Liz Cheney right now. Can't they just all be friends so they can win together
NEW: Can the GOP grow without Donald Trump? @SenBillCassidy says "for us to win in 2022 and 2024, we need everybody… https://t.co/LxQtTtWmx5
— Meet the Press (@Meet the Press) 1620566737.0
CASSIDY: Before COVID hit, we had the best economy we've had in my lifetime. Now, I would argue that there are some who still see [Trump] as the messenger of that set of policies that they felt was incredibly positive for our country. […] And so, for us to win in 2022 and 2024 we need everybody. […] Now ultimately, it's about the policies. You see that Cheney, Cassidy support those policies. Those policies are our ticket to victory. And I think those policies are the ones that bring us back in 2022.
A few things, Cassidy:
If Trump's "policies" worked for a majority of people he might have actually won the election.
Saying "before COVID hit" to excuse Trump's failure to address the pandemic is like saying we never had a major terrorist attack during George W. Bush's presidency before September 11. It's a pretty large fucking caveat.
In conclusion, there's only one thing Democrats need to do about this GOP infighting:
Have a week.
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Your Sunday Show Rundown Is Conservatives In Chaos! (Again.)
Well...now I’m gonna insist to be called Commander! 😂 https://media3.giphy.com/me...
You mean under Trump? (Not that the problems ain't still there, just checking your meaning.)