The assassination attempt on Donald Trump could have been a reset for the Republican Party. Its lawmakers could have taken the path the traditional media was begging for and channeled their hate in the name of unity. But that’s an awful lot to ask with Trump as their leader. Even the most vulnerable Republicans, who occupy districts that President Joe Biden won in 2020, can’t hide their true selves.
Take Rep. Anthony D’Esposito in New York’s 4th Congressional District, which Biden won by more than 14 percentage points. On a local radio show Tuesday, D’Esposito spouted a conspiracy theory that Vice President Kamala Harris took “the lead in the cover-up of Joe Biden being prepared to be the President of the United States.” He recently tweeted both that “Harris isn’t soft-on-crime, she’s simply in favor of it,” and that she’s a “radical leftist.”
This tweet might be his best, though.
Does he remember which conference he belongs to in the House?
D’Esposito’s fellow New York Republican, Rep. Mike Lawler in the 17th District, is also among the House’s most vulnerable Republicans. Biden won Lawler’s district by just over 10 points. And yet look how he talks about Harris when he’s among friends on Fox News:
To hear Lawler tell it, Harris is part of the “growing segment” of Democrats who are “supporting a terrorist organization” and promoting not only “Jew hatred” but also a “hatred of America” and a “hatred of capitalism.” He’s lying, obviously, but he was proud enough of that performance that he tweeted out the video of it.
But Rep. Mike Garcia in California’s 27th District might take the cake. He’s running for reelection in a district Biden won by over 12 points and was among the first on the “unity bandwagon,” writing an op-ed for The Santa Clarita Valley Signal following the assassination attempt, saying, “I believe we’re a nation determined to seize this opportunity to unite and get our country back on track, just as we’ve done so many times before.”
That lasted for all of five days. He quickly joined in on the personal attacks against Harris, telling a right-wing radio host last week, “She’s not very intelligent, she’s not very well-spoken.” When the show’s host asked if he bought into the conspiracy theory that Biden was using a body double for speeches, Garcia laughed and said, “I don’t know, to be honest.”
Feel the unity.
Garcia’s running against former NASA Chief of Staff George Whitesides, who has a big fundraising and cash-on-hand advantage.
So who’s not very intelligent in this scenario?
