Tag: far right republicans

Endorse This! Colbert Rips Major Flaw In Supreme Court's Logic

Now that the Supreme Court has decided to ignore the will of the people on abortion with their unconstitutional reversal of Roe v. Wade , women living in red states are wondering what will come next.

Late Show host Stephen Colbert weighed in on the ruling and discovered one fundamental flaw -- turning women's freedom over to the "elected representatives."

“Have you met the people’s elected representatives?!? I have!” said Colbert, who then called out one right-wing Texas lawmaker in particular.

Louie Gohmert is one of them. I’m not sure if he knows where babies come from!”

Colbert previously dubbed Gohmert “ the dumbest man alive ” after the GOP lawmaker complained that Republicans aren’t allowed to lie to Congress or the FBI .

Yes, this is an actual elected representative with the power to levy taxes, vote on major legislation, and send your children to war. Texas manages to churn out the lowest bottom feeders, though perhaps that will change if Beto O'Rourke takes back the governorship.

Watch the entire segment below:

Endorse This! Bill Maher Shows Why GOP Ads Prove Americans Are 'Stupid'

Longtime provocateur and host of HBO's Real Time , Bill Maher sometimes slips into conservative crank territory. Whether lambasting Covid rules or scolding LGBT youth, Maher can sound like an aging buffoon. Yet he is by no means friendly toward the nakedly fascist MAGA/QANON Republicans .

During the latest episode of Real Time , Maher wondered aloud what the stunning idiocy of GOP campaign ads means for our future.

“We have to figure out how a country can solve any problem if so many of its people are so intractably, astoundingly, mind-numbingly stupid,” Maher told viewers. “And I’m not saying that as hyperbole or just out of frustration. I mean this country just might be empirically, verifiably too fucking dumb to continue as an ongoing enterprise.”

Maher showed a TikTok video that proves his point, and commented on a clip from one of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green's ads in which she fires a semi-automatic weapon.

"Here’s three words that no one ever has to say to Marjorie Taylor Greene: dumb it down.”

Watch The Entire Segment Below:

Mastriano And Other Trumpists Flock To Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Conference

Numerous Republicans, including Pennsylvania gubernatorial contender Doug Mastriano, are scheduled to speak at a conference hosted by podcast hosts and QAnon conspiracy theorists Allen and Francine Fosdick. The Fosdicks have promoted conspiracy theories alleging Jewish people, led by the Rothchilds, have been manipulating events such as wildfires through “space weather” and lasers; aim to subjugate the human race; and have evil “bloodlines” with other prominent Jewish people.

Allen and Francine Fosdick host the online program Up Front In The Prophetic . The Fosdicks have pushed numerous conspiracy theories over the years, including repeatedly promoting QAnon. Their website currently features numerous links promoting Pizzagate, the conspiracy theory that prominent Democrats have trafficked children through a Washington, D.C., restaurant.

The Fosdicks announced that they are hosting a conference on April 22-23 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, featuring “conservative leaders and upcoming representatives that put America First.” The list of scheduled speakers include Mastriano, who is also a conservative commentator, state senator, and QAnon supporter; Pennsylvania lieutenant governor candidate Teddy Daniels; Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate Kathy Barnette; commentator and former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis; Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington; and Maryland delegate and QAnon-supporting gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox.

Right Wing Watch previously reported on the scheduled attendance of Republican officials at the event and noted that Mastriano “has made multiple appearances on the Fosdicks’ program and even met with them in his office.”

In 2021, Mastriano and Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Paula Patrick were scheduled to attend the 2021 version of the conference but both did not attend after media attention. Mastriano’s gubernatorial website currently shows the 2022 conference on his list of upcoming events.

Media Matters additionally found that the Fosdicks have frequently promoted conspiracy theories involving the Rothschilds manipulating events for global domination. Such claims have long been used as an anti-Semitic cudgel against Jewish people to claim they are secretly controlling or engineering events for their benefit. Here are numerous examples from the Fosdicks’ Facebook page:

  • The Fosdicks promoted the conspiracy theory that the Rothschilds were behind California wildfires through the use of “space weather” and lasers. (Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene infamously pushed a version of this conspiracy theory.) They posted a link to a now-removed YouTube video titled “Space Weather, Rothschild & Agenda 21” and quoted a line from the video's description, which stated: “PG&E is controlled by one of the world's richest families, the Rothschild's whose Agenda 21 goals seem to be coming along quite nicely with all of this ‘accidental’ destruction.” During the video, the narrator stated: “Is it possible that these fires are not merely the result of a benevolent corporation that's merely incompetent, but rather one that's far more sinister? Space weather. Directed-energy weapons. Rewilding California when insurance companies will no longer insure because the risk is too high. People are beginning to ask the right questions.”

cloudfront.mediamatters.org

  • The Fosdicks posted a link to a piece on the fringe website Humans Are Free that pushed conspiracy theories about the deaths of numerous celebrities, including Chester Bennington, Anthony Bourdain, Chris Cornell, and Robin Williams. The piece also promoted the anti-Semitic publication Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion , stating: “The Rothschilds appear to have a secret compact. Each member of the dynasty will die if he refuses to advance the plan for the subversion and enslavement of the human race outlined in ‘The Protocols of Zion.’”
  • The Fosdicks promoted a Humans Are Free piece claiming that “the creation of the New World Order (NWO) agenda was put in motion by the infamous character, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the one who decided to control the entire planet by any means necessary. Of course, this meant: deception, control, financial enslavement, blackmail and murder… but also far graver things, like: wars, famine and depopulation… a genocide unlike any other before it.”
  • The Fosdicks shared a piece titled “Wikileaks Reveal Hillary Clinton is a Puppet of the Rothschild Family.”
  • The Fosdicks posted a link to a now-removed Twitter thread claiming that the family of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is connected to the Rothschilds and pushing numerous conspiracy theories about Jewish families subverting the country through finance. The thread ended by stating: “Follow the bloodlines Know your enemy.” In the post sharing the thread, the Fosdicks wrote: “Boom. …Schiff bloodline! Now it all makes sense.”

cloudfront.mediamatters.org

Published by permission of Media Matters for America .

Greene Praises Authoritarian Orban After Election Win In Hungary

The Georgia Republican representative congratulated Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a key ally of Vladimir Putin, on winning another term.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) congratulated Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an antisemitic and Islamophobic authoritarian who has crushed democracy in his country, controlling elections and the media , on securing another term as prime minister, becoming the latest GOP figure to cozy up to the authoritarian leader.

"Congratulations to Viktor Orban on winning a victory well deserved! He's leading Hungary the right way and we need this in America," Greene tweeted Monday morning, the day after the election victory of Orban, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's strongest allies, who accuses his opponents of trying to drag Hungary into war in Ukraine.

She also praised Hungary's referendum on banning the teaching of children about gender identity and sexual orientation.

"America should also ban sexually explicit media in sex-ed and all gender change information for minors under 18 intentionally confusing children," added Greene, who has made anti-LGBTQ comments before.

Greene congratulated Orban after he made antisemitic comments and slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his victory speech and after reports had emerged that Russian troops have committed war crimes in Ukraine, including the rape and execution of civilians.

Putin, who endorsed Orban's run for reelection right before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, also congratulated Orban on his victory. "The head of the Russian state expressed confidence that, despite the difficult international situation, the further development of bilateral ties of partnership fully meets the interests of the peoples of Russia and Hungary," the Kremlin said of Orban's victory.

Orban said he had had to overcome "The left at home, the international left all around, the Brussels bureaucrats, the [George] Soros empire with all its money, the international mainstream media, and in the end, even the Ukrainian president" to win the election.

Orban is known for making racist and anti-Semitic comments .

He's demonized Soros , the Hungarian-born Jewish philanthropist and Holocaust survivor who is a target of antisemitic attacks from right-wing leaders in the United States and abroad, blaming Soros for his Hungary's ills. In 2018, in a statement littered with antisemitic tropes, he said : "We are fighting an enemy that is different from us. Not open, but hiding; not straightforward but crafty; not honest but base; not national but international; does not believe in working but speculates with money; does not have its own homeland but feels it owns the whole world."

He's called migrants fleeing Syria to Europe " poison " and " Muslim invaders ."

And Orban has revoked broadcast licenses from stations that were critical of his tenure.

"European Union institutions should be alarmed at this continued crackdown on independent media," Human Rights Watch wrote in 2021 of Orban's silencing of opposing voices. "Hungary is already under scrutiny for flouting the EU's democratic principles. But member states have dragged their feet as the situation in Hungary deteriorates."

Greene has echoed some of Orban's rhetoric, attacking immigrants, spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories, and parroting Putin's lies about Ukraine being filled with "neo-Nazis."

Greene also tried to launch a white supremacist caucus within Congress to preserve "Anglo-Saxon political traditions" and warned that immigration risked the United States' "unique identity." She scrapped the idea after backlash.

And she's not the only voice on the American right that has supported or praised Orban.

Former President Donald Trump endorsed Orban in January, calling the authoritarian a "strong leader" who has "done a powerful and wonderful job in protecting Hungary, stopping illegal immigration, creating jobs, trade, and should be allowed to continue to do so in the upcoming election."

In 2019, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) called Orban a "patriot" who "demonstrates the values of Western civilization and democracy, sovereignty, and self-determination."

And Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who defended Putin's invasion of Ukraine at its start, made an anti-Semitic and fawning documentary about Orban called "Hungary vs. Soros: The Fight for Civilization."

Observers have warned of the danger to American democracy of Republicans like Trump who say they want to adopt some of Orban's anti-democratic measures.

"Trump wants to do here what Orban has done in Hungary: weaken democratic institutions, curb press freedom, and rewrite election laws to entrench his own party's power," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) tweeted in January. "The threat to our democracy could not be clearer, and we must act boldly to protect it."

Published with permission of The American Independent .