Yet again, the president’s allies have found a new low. From Twitter:
Rory CooperVerified account @rorycooper
President Trump’s Super PAC is going after Republican hill staffers by name. Unnecessary and classless.
And there’s a sign which reads:
Hold @SenDeanHeller (staffer name and Twitter handle omitted) accountable 4 turning on voters and promise to #RepealAndReplace #HellerVoteYes.
… followed by his office number.
This as, as Rory says, incredibly classless. The PAC is going after an ordinary staff person — a private citizen. Her mentions must be blowing up.
Trump has spoken before of Twitter as a weapon. He’s firing at his own people now.
Please share widely!
fredrichlariccia says
Trump PAC turns on its own. The fools are running a $1 million ad in Nevada attacking Republican Senator Heller for not supporting TrumpScare.
fredrichlariccia says
Idiot Trump PAC ad attacking Heller (R-NV) for not supporting TrumpScare is pulled after McConnell reams out Rinse Penis calling it “beyond stupid”. lol
SomervilleTom says
Despicable.
Still — it’s not as if these poor innocent staffers didn’t know what kind of thug their party was putting in the Oval Office. Mr. Trump strikes me as a dangerously insecure and incompetent thug who now has enormous power.
My bottom line: they who live by the sword shall die by the sword, and all that.
JimC says
Say what?
SomervilleTom says
Was my comment unclear?
I think the action by the Donald Trump team is despicable.
I think each affected staffer knows the affiliation of the legislator he or she chooses to work for. None of those staffers are coerced to show up for their job. I’m not aware of ANY GOP legislator who has openly declared his or her opposition to Mr. Trump and his administration — the most outspoken that I can think of is Mr. McCain, and so far as I know his staffers are not on the list.
I think that Mr. Heller could have demonstrated some backbone long before this issue. I think that a staffer that didn’t want this to happen should have found a different employer.
Harry Truman famously said “If you can’t the heat, get out of the kitchen”.
Mr. Heller and his GOP colleagues have collectively raised the temperature of the kitchen to the point where every flammable object is on fire. Maybe it’s time for those staffers to flee for their lives.
JimC says
Going after staff is over the line. (White House staff are arguably an exception, they’re much more visible and powerful.) But Congressional staff should be left alone.
petr says
Without disagreeing with you, in the least, I think your initial post, with it’s surprise that Donald Trump would turn, not against a staffer, but against a Republican (you even called it “a new low”) blurred the distinction you are now trying to unblur.
The underlying assertion perhaps being read as “well, of course Donald Trump would go after a Democratic Staffer… that’s just business as usual. Nothing to see in that…. but a Republican staffer? Whoa. Whole new ball game.” I don’t think that is precisely what you meant, but I would readily forgive anyone for reading it that way…
JimC says
Well, yes and no. I would be just as appalled if he went after a Democratic staffer (or his PAC did).
I would rather he didn’t go after anybody, though I recognize the futility of that.
SomervilleTom says
I agree, that’s why I wrote that it’s despicable.
Nevertheless, we also know full well that Donald Trump is an unprincipled thug, bully, and boor who will do whatever he wishes without regard to what’s right, wrong, moral, or immoral.
If I see somebody who is obviously, flagrantly drunk, disorderly, and recalcitrant and I hand the drunkard a loaded handgun, then I suggest I have some culpability when the drunkard starts shooting — even though said shooting is obviously criminal.
JimC says
Mitch is pissed.
jconway says
This tactic backfired badly for FDR which is why few presidents have attempted it since. McConnell’s mistake was betting on crafting a bill conservative enough to get Lee, Paul and Cruz on board. He thought he could replicate the Ryan-Pence strategy that froze out the Tuesday Group moderates in the House.
He definitely didn’t expect Johnson to join those three and go after it so far.
Also I’ll give credit where it’s due. I’m a consistent Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin critic, but the former has adopted a strategy of zero cooperation on this bill which folks like the latter have followed. Make no mistake, Daschle and Reid never commanded a caucus as cohesive as Chuck is today. Biggest surprise of the Trump era has been congressional democrats sticking together and not caving an inch. For all the talk about disunity among the grassroots there is unity among our rank and file. And they will be rewarded at the polls.