Fierce Patriots

Conservative Political News

  • Subscribe

<![CDATA[Republicans]]>

Rich Lowry: Trump Won't Walk Away With GOP Nomination in 2024

by Leave a Comment

First things first. National Review Editor Rich Lowry is not a “die-hard” Trump fan. We’ll offer several examples later in the article — but let’s first get to the business at hand. As Lowry sees it, it’s a fool’s game to overestimate Trump’s dominance of the Republican Party this far in advance of the 2024 election.

Lowry writes, in an op-ed posted by The New York Post on Friday, that Republican politicians who think the Republican Party belongs to Trump can be forgiven, given that he not only survived two impeachments and the January 6 attack against the U.S. Capitol; he has since continued to thrive.

Trump’s rallies are still remarkably well-attended, he is making progress in his project of killing the careers of Republicans who supported his impeachment and big majorities of Republicans tell pollsters they want Trump to run for president again.

One thing is certain: The Trumpaloozas are as strong as they ever were.

“And yet,” writes Lowry, “there are reasons to believe Trump’s dominance is exaggerated and that it is slowly degrading, such that by the time the 2024 Republican primaries roll around, he’ll be challengeable and beatable if he runs.” (At this point, Trump not running in 2024 would make news.)

It’s not unusual for a former president to own his party until someone comes and takes it from him — Bill Clinton prior to Barack Obama, for example.

What’s different is that parties typically aren’t kind to one-term presidents who lost their re-election bids, and generally former presidents aren’t so bent on exercising control over their parties once they vacate the White House.

Part of the reason Trump has clung to his fanciful stolen-election narrative is to avoid the stench of defeat of a Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush.

On top of this, Trump has an intact political operation that is paying a lot of attention to his potential endorsements and how they will or won’t enhance his own power.

Have you grabbed the popcorn, yet? Let’s continue.

All of the above makes Trump an important player, says Lowry, and maybe more: “But there are indications of an undertow and factors that might increase it in the years ahead.”

Trump’s media footprint is much reduced. Data from SocialFlow shows engagement with Trump stories plummeting in March of this year and it took another jag down in August and September.

As for Trump’s polling numbers, Republicans might tell pollsters they want him to run again as a way to stick a finger in the eye of the media or as a general statement of warm feelings toward him.

Even if these findings are based on entirely forthcoming and sincere sentiments, wanting Trump to run is a threshold question that falls short of a commitment to vote for him 2½ years from now.

Just me, or is Lowry’s last line a stretch?

‘Trump Has Vulnerability Problems’

The wild card for Republican voters, and Trump if he does run in 2024 will be the 800-pound elephant in the room — January 6. Speaking of which, new video shows officers waving people into the Capitol.

I can see it breaking both ways — and it most likely will. There will be previous Trump voters who will not vote Trump in 2024 because of 2024 — and there will be Republicans — and others — who will support Trump because of the “stolen” 2020 election.

“At the end of the day,” argues Lowry, “what primary voters in both parties most want is to win. And this is Trump’s true Achilles’ heel.” (It’s also Trump’s greatest strength among his fervent supporters.)

The fact is that he lost [or the election was “stolen”] to Joe Biden, and, despite last-minute changes in election procedures and the media and social media landscape being stacked against him, it was fundamentally his doing.

Ohh, fighting words, there, Rich.

OK, the messenger now steps off the stage; the floor is yours.

Is Rich Lowry full of crap? Or does he make his case?

As I  promised at the top, here are a few of Lowry’s notable Trump takes:

The Crash of the Flight 93 Presidency

Rich Lowry: Trump’s Disgusting Coda

Rich Lowry: Trump Is Letting Down His Side

Watch: The First Official Utterance of ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ Has Been Made on the House Floor

by Leave a Comment

The “Let’s Go Brandon” (code for “F*** Joe Biden”) phenomenon has been a fascinating trend to watch unfold in recent weeks, and on Thursday, it officially made its way to the floor of the U.S. House.

During a floor speech railing against President Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan, Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) began by stating that “the President’s theme ‘Build Back Better’ just can’t pass the straight-face test.”

“In reality,” he suggested, “it’s like a ‘Demolish America Faster’ agenda. “If you really think it builds America back better,” he continued, “your view of America is different than most of the people I know.”

Posey then talked about how he remembered a time when people could speak freely on college campuses, school boards, and elsewhere without fear of being targeted by the Department of Justice or via Big Tech and the media “colluding” to cancel them. The terms “wokeness,” “entitlement-itis,” and “Trumphobia” were also used to describe the current state of things in America during the pandemic, which Posey insinuated was not the America this country needed to be.

It’s what Posey said at the conclusion of his speech that’s gotten the most attention, however.

“It’s not hard to see where you’re coming from,” Posey stated towards Democrats in general as well as Biden. “Based upon the false promise that he would unify America, Biden got into the Oval Office … but we all know the unification promise was a lie. And your majority is going to be short-lived.”

Noting people were “frustrated, angry” and “not going to sit back and take it much longer,” Posey said Americans don’t want Biden’s agenda. “They want you to help put America back where you found it and leave it the hell alone. Let’s go, Brandon.” Posey finished by raising his fist in a mock “cheering” motion.

Watch the moment, which I think is a “first” for the slogan in Congress, below:

As we previously reported, the “Let’s go Brandon” chant originated after a NASCAR race earlier this month that saw driver Brandon Brown take the checkered flag. As he was being interviewed, “F*** Joe Biden” chants could be heard in the background, as has been the case at numerous sporting events over the last couple of months. The reporter interviewing him laughably suggested that the fans in attendance were chanting “Let’s go, Brandon,” even though it was obvious they were chanting something else.

Watch (language warning):

Even more hilariously, Brandon Brown himself got in on the action, tweeting this a couple of days later:

Back to Posey, for anyone interested, his full three and a half minute speech from yesterday can be viewed here:

Flashback: ‘The F*** It Move of 2020′: Departing Congressman Opens a Cold One on House Floor, and We Are Here for It

Virginia Is the Test Kitchen for 2020 (and the GOP Has a Big Advantage)

by Leave a Comment

The Virginia gubernatorial election is tight, way tighter than anyone would have guessed even a couple of months ago. Glenn Youngkin, the Republican in the race, is averaging a little under two points behind Terry McAuliffe, Democrat and former governor of Virginia, in the RealClearPolitics average. Virginia is pretty solidly blue, so this alone should worry Democrats a bit.

In fact, the most recent poll, which comes from Monmouth, shows them in a virtual tie and Youngkin leading on one particular issue: Education.

But there is some other data that isn’t public you might want to be aware of.

First, a couple of sources have indicated to me that both the Democratic and Republican parties are showing roughly 60-65% of Americans do want Congress to investigate the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. That doesn’t necessarily mean that 60-65% of Americans think that this was a definite insurrection attempt, but that there is concern over what happened.

Likewise, I’ve also gathered from a couple of sources that Democratic tracking polls show McAuliffe’s lead growing while some behind the scenes polling in Virginia shows Youngkin overtaking McAuliffe. If we assume that this data roughly cancels each other out, then the RCP average holds. McAuliffe is probably currently in the lead, but it’s still very tight.

McAuliffe has made his campaign about Donald Trump. He has tried tying Youngkin to Trump, reminded Virginians of the Charlottesville riots, kicked up dust about January 6, and everything else he can to keep Trump fresh on the minds of Virginians. In particular, he wants northern Virginians riled up and at the polls on election day.

This is what the Democrats’ data is showing them gives them the best chance. This is also the Democrats’ strategy in 2022, and Virginia is the testing grounds for it. The party is also trying to the infrastructure, voting rights, and reconciliation issues through in order have a legislative agenda to run on as well. The plan is to keep things national. Keep bringing up Trump and juxtapose the “chaos” of his presidency and legacy against their legislative accomplishments.

Youngkin’s campaign, however, is following the old adage that all politics is local. Trump is not an issue in his campaign and never was. Instead, they are focusing on very real parent anger at local school boards. The Republicans will, likewise, keep things local in districts across the country ahead of the 2022 elections. Their data is showing very real anger across the board and they will use that.

Virginia gubernatorial candidates Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin.
AP Photo/Cliff Owen

Yesterday, I pointed out that Jen Psaki is replying to concerns over inflation and supply chain issues with smug divisiveness that will turn off voters. It is emblematic of the Democrats’ overall failure to recognize what is happening at the local level. They believe that the pushback against Critical Race Theory, school shutdowns, mask mandates, and the like are all just Republican activists stirring up trouble. They will not admit that there is genuine dissatisfaction with public schools and it isn’t just white Republican parents who are feeling it.

Nor do they really understand that inflation and supply chain issues aren’t just upper-class problems. They are problems affecting the middle and lower classes at a much more devastating rate. They are convinced that the “real Americans” Republicans point out as hurting from Biden’s policies aren’t real at all.

All of this is coming to a head in Virginia. The Democrats’ best chance to win is to make all those federal employees in northern Virginia stand in solidarity with them and make those national issues really stick. McAuliffe really did anger a lot of parents when he said he didn’t think they should have a say in what is taught in their kids’ schools. I don’t think he or the Democrats understand that yet.

During the Obama years, the Democratic Party was virtually wiped out at the local level, save for major urban areas and deep blue states. By the time Obama left office, Republicans had more legislative houses, governor’s mansions, and city governments than they’d ever had before. Democrats really had no bench at the local or even state levels. They became so fixated on the national level that they ignored it, thinking they had something of a permanent majority – or at least one that would last longer than four years.

But they didn’t.

Despite it all, Virginia is a blue state. It wasn’t purple going into this gubernatorial season, but the Democrats have focused so hard on the national in this race and failed to understand the issues that drive voters at the local level that they are in a bind. McAuliffe can’t really walk back his statements on parents and schools. He is trying, but it’s not working. That is why Youngkin appears to be leading on the issue of education and why the race is so close.

If it comes down to local versus national in 2022, and it appears Virginia really is the testing ground for these strategies, it looks like the GOP has an edge. As blue as Virginia is, a Republican gubernatorial candidate should not be as close as he is. Even if McAuliffe still wins, if it’s within a few points then the Democrats need to panic. Biden won the state by ten points. Anything over a six-point drop less than a year is a bad, bad sign for them.

Blind Squirrel Finds Acorn: Blinken Calls Packing Courts 'Anti-Democratic'

by Leave a Comment

OK, who is this guy, and what did he do with Antony Blinken?

In a flying-pigs moment, Joe Biden’s out-of-touch Secretary of State, Antony Blinken now says he believes packing the United States Supreme Court is an “anti-democratic” idea. Blinken laid out several red flags, saying they exist in “our hemisphere.”

“Consider a country where a leader is elected in a free and fair election, and then sets about chipping away, slowly but surely, at the pillars of democracy. Attacking the free press; undermining the independence of the courts; threatening political opponents.

“Now, imagine that leader then seeks to use the levers of democracy to pass anti-democratic reforms: eliminating term limits; packing courts; firing legislators.

“That’s the story of more than one democracy in our hemisphere. And it’s one of the ways that democracies can come undone.”

Not to be overly suspicious, but what the hell did Blinken mean by that?

As I began to watch the below video, my first thought was Biden’s inept Secretary of State was going to parrot the ridiculous claim by several Democrat lawmakers that it was actually Donald Trump who unfairly “packed the Supreme Court” and that therefore it was the Democrat Party’s patriotic duty to increase the number of justices to 12 and “restore the balance” envisioned by the Founding Fathers.

But Blinken didn’t go there, raising the question, what was his point? Could he possibly have found that acorn, as I suggested in the title? Stranger things have happened over the last nine months, I suppose.

But, damn.

Let’s assume, for lack of a better explanation, that Blinken actually meant what he said — a rare feat for a member of the Biden administration, including Clueless Joe™ himself. He wouldn’t be the Lone Ranger.

As I reported in April after news broke that the Democrats planned to introduce court-packing legislation, Georgetown University law professor Jonathan Turley — hardly a conservative —  weighed in on Twitter with a reasonable, masterful takedown of the notion of packing the Supreme Court.

BTW, “you know who” shared the same view in October 2020, in reference to “the other” “you know who.”

Who knew?

Then again, that same month, noted legal scholar Sunny Hostin of “The View” said Democrats pushing the number of SCOTUS justices to twelve would actually be unpacking the Supreme Court, so there’s that.

Is it any wonder that a growing percentage of Americans appear to want Joe Biden the hell out of the White House? Then reality smacks us in the face yet again as we realize who’s waiting in the wings.

Ok, I’ve had enough. Time for a cold draft. Or two. And an Aurelio’s pizza.

Incidentally, here’s a bit of good news that no doubt irritated the hell of liberals.

WATCH: Good Guy With Gun Takes Down Bad Guy With Gun After Mall Shooting Leaves Several Injured

Did NBC News Just Fact Check Fauci?

by Leave a Comment

This is the type of story that might prompt you to look outside your window to see if you can spot any flying pigs. An NBC News reporter actually pushed back on a claim made by the left’s favorite medical guy, Dr. Anthony Fauci.

During an appearance on CNN last month, Fauci did his usual alarmist routine when discussing crowds attending football games. He told the news outlet that he did not believe it was “smart” for people to attend sporting events because it could cause more COVID-19 infections. He said:

Outdoors is always better than indoors, but even when you have such a congregate setting of people close together, first you should be vaccinated. And when you do have congregate settings, particularly indoors, you should be wearing a mask.

Fauci also argued that the country is still in “outbreak mode” due to the number of cases per day. He also once again promoted the implementation of vaccine and mask mandates.

NBC reporter Shaquille Brewster dunked on Fauci, noting that “crowds in the tens of thousands, mostly unmasked, have sat side-by-side now cheering on their teams at the halfway point of the season.” He continued:

All while doctors warned of games becoming potential super-spreader events. A frightening prospect at the time with hospitals already on the brink.

Brewster is not the only one who has pushed back on the notion that sporting events are super-spreaders.

While discussing college football games in Indiana, Deputy Health Officer Mark Fox told ABC57 that he has seen few COVID cases that resulted from attending football games. He said:

You know people are largely oriented towards the field so if I’m yelling and cheering my droplets are hitting you in the back of the head. Rather than right in the face or the side of your face.

The health official also noted that the reason why these events do not result in increased COVID cases is because they take place outdoors, where the virus is less likely to spread. “People from outside who’s vaccination status we don’t know that poses a bigger risk than the tailgating outside or … attending in the bull or the stadium,” he explained.

A number of experts told Boston 25 News that “with limited capacity, mask-wearing and open-air stadiums, there was no real spike in COVID-19 cases following pro football games.”

The report noted that a study “analyzed hundreds of NFL and NCAA games, comparing games with in-person fans to games without fans in similar-sized counties,” and found that “there was no significant increase in COVID-19 cases following those games with in-person attendance in those surrounding communities.”

If Flip-Flop Fauci didn’t change his mind on issues pertaining to the coronavirus, it would be reasonable to assume he is just being overly cautious in his recommendations. However, at this point, it is clear that he has gone full COVID alarmist. He is one of many attempting to scare the public into accepting intrusive measures ostensibly to slow the spread of the virus.

It is unlikely that NBC’s clapback is the start of the activist media turning on Fauci. While it is surprising that they would contradict him, this does not mean they will not continue fawning over him. However, it seems clear that at least some experts are not toeing the line, as evidenced by a recent dust-up between President Joe Biden’s coronavirus team and outside experts. Hopefully, people will eventually start seeking out other sources of information rather than listening to the fearmonger-in-chief.