Democrats are testing whether a moment when Republicans shouted down a reporter for asking about Mike Johnson’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election will have a political impact.
When House Republicans held an impromptu press conference late Tuesday night to celebrate coalescing around their new speaker nominee, they were in no mood to answer tough questions—or even the obvious one.
So when ABC reporter Rachel Scott asked Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA)—the speaker nominee who has now been elevated to the speakership—about his leading efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Republicans were having none of it.
They drowned out the reporter with boos. Johnson said “next question.” And Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) told the reporter to “shut up!”
Now, a D.C.-based advocacy group, Courage For America, is seizing on the moment to attack Republicans and quickly define the new speaker.
If you watch the ad linked in the article, at the end it says, “Tell Congressman Santos, Don’t Support Speaker Johnson’s Extreme Agenda.”
…Congressman Santos? As in George Santos? The guy who claimed that he was a “star player” on the Baruch volleyball team? As in the guy who was indicted on three additional felonies this month, in addition to the charges from earlier this year?
And the article says:
So, yes, they are hilariously targeting the constituents of George Santos, who I think is already very unpopular with his constituents (since he lied to them), and who might have to campaign for reelection from jail.
That’s absolutely insane. I mean, the idea of telling constituents to call or write their Republican congressman is laughable to begin with (they are absolutely incapable of actually listening to their constituents), but Santos in particular only lies. He has no other gear.
It’s not unreasonable to tell constituents to call their congressman. The one time politicians have to believe in math is when they’re next running for office, and if they catch wind that an organized group of people are paying attention to them, and might vote against them in a block, and might actively work to convince others not to vote for them, that will be a concern.
Of course we’ve got gerrymandering, which makes that less of a concern, but still, even “safe” districts can flip unexpectedly.
I think you’re missing the sarcasm, they’re playing off the methods of the White House media team, and running in fringe areas. The intent is to remind those in NY that Santos won the vote, so, you know, vote better. (My guess, anyway)