CAGOP Chairman 07-11, Presidential spox for
@TedCruz
in ‘16. Senior advisor in ‘18. Almost CA Lt. Gov. in ‘14. I lecture on politics and explain it on TV. 🇺🇸
Hotel staff shared w/ me this evening multiple individuals involved w/ violence at the Capitol Jan 6 returned to hotel amped up and bragging about what they did. Prob not smart to confess to ppl who have your name and ID on file and lobby cameras.
Just filed tip w/
@FBI
. 🇺🇸
I’ve been active in the conservative movement for 32 years, and I signed up for my
#COVID19
vaccine as soon as I could. I got the Moderna shot one week ago. Here’s why I chose to get vaccinated and I encourage you to as well (THREAD).
U.S. GOVERNMENT DECLARES NATIONAL EMERGENCY IN WASHINGTON, D.C., AND 17 STATES AFTER A COMPANY RUNNING A POWER PIPELINE WAS ATTACKED BY A CYBERATTACK LAST FRIDAY
Russian active measures to exacerbate US social tensions began in 2015. Since 2017, few Republicans willing to engage on the topic because Trump’s “Russia, Russia, Russia” made it a forbidden topic. Insurrection, and summer riots, are consistent with Russia’s objectives.
I just spent a week in Poland with many of the country’s political and business leaders.
On matters of history and security, the Poles “get it” more than many others on the continent, and it shows in how they’re dealing with Russia, Ukraine, and their own history. 🧵
Five Americans are dead. The Republican brand is shattered. And thousands of the insurrectionists are at large.
How about dropping the petty rapid response spin pretending the insurrection didn’t happen and instead engage Republican volunteers to help clean up the mess FFS.
"America United"
This is the SAME Joe Biden who compares Republicans to Nazis, called conservatives "chumps" and "ugly folks," said Republicans were going to put African Americans "back in chains," called black youths "predators," and his staff thinks Republicans are "fuckers."
“I’ve spent 32 years in the Republican Party, and I’m not going to allow it to be defined by a bunch of racists and lunatics just because they put on a MAGA hat.," said Nehring.
Make no mistake, disgraced former NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver deserves no clemency or pardon. Silver deserves to actually serve the jail time that he was sentenced for selling the incredible power he yielded to enrich himself. He was a corrupt and dishonest politician.
Today in Russia we see the exact kind of internal conflict Putin was hoping to ignite in America: An armed rebellion that becomes all consuming for the country’s leadership.
The implications for his war on Ukraine is clear:
Final: The diseases we are protected from by vaccines are truly terrible. Nature is full of pathogens that want our bodies for food and breeding. Vaccines jump start our own immune systems to fight diseases that could otherwise overwhelm us. And we are all better for it. /END
Driving in my car is safe. Sitting in the middle of a freeway is dangerous. Yes, while driving I may be in an accident, but sitting in the middle of a freeway is a lot more dangerous. Refusing to be vaccinated is like sitting in that freeway instead of being protected.
I paid attention in science class in high school and in college. I trust America’s institutions more than I trust Facebook memes. And I have been protected from various diseases thanks to vaccines as I’ve traveled extensively around the world.
Those who spread theories against vaccines rely on a lot of logical fallacies, twisted definitions, and abuse of statistics. I’ve been in communications for more than 20 years and I recognize these, and reject them. I prefer to be evidence based.
While the European establishment in Brussels gives Poland a hard time, Americans should be encouraged by Poland’s leadership, moral clarity, and unambiguous words backed up by action.
Poland is on the right side of history and determined to stay that way.
Irresponsible claims of “rigging” elections is an invitation to authoritarianism. When people give up on democracy, some become open to an authoritarian who will “restore order,” or some other bullsh-t.
Diseases are dangerous and vaccines are safe, within any reasonable definition of those words. Specifically, COVID-19 is dangerous and the 3 vaccines approved in the US are safe.
My own reaction to the first dose of Moderna was exactly consistent with the reporting: next day I had a slight sensation in my arm, and the day after that I was fatigued. And...that’s about it.
Bill Gates didn’t call me. I don’t feel any sudden urge to buy MS-Windows.
⚡️
#Ukraine
may receive
#F16
fighter jets in early 2024, Politico reported.
The supplier country remains in question, but a
#Pentagon
source said that it could be the Netherlands or Denmark.
Why am I writing this? Some of my fellow Republicans are hesitant, and as a GOP leader (former chairman, current elected officeholder, long time movement activist) I wanted to encourage everyone to get vaccinated so we can put the nail in the coffin of this pandemic.
This is a disgrace. I was the Republican Party Chairman when he was caught, tried and convicted for selling his office in the sleaziest possible ways, then lied about and tried to cover it up. He is a stain on our party and our country.
Reagan got a Democrat-controlled House to pass the biggest tax cut in American history and a massive military buildup.
Trump could not get a Republican Congress to build his wall, or repeal Obamacare.
Why? 🧵
Three terms. Three popular vote wins. Defeated Communism. Liberated Grenada, Panama, Kuwait and Eastern Europe. Rebuilt America’s military and economy.
With decency and honor. This is what real winning looked like.
The Poles have a refreshing level of moral clarity. They survived the Nazis, and the Russians. They’re not ambiguous about how they feel about both.
A proud statue of Reagan stands opposite the US embassy.
I walked through the intersection of John Paul and Solidarity Avenues.
In California the vaccination program is a hot mess, even though we pay a fortune for state government and this is the most important health issue we’ve ever faced. Meanwhile, West Virginia is leading. Nuts.
White House Covid senior adviser Andy Slavitt: “I want to call out seven states that have already provide first vaccinations to more than 10% of their populations: Alaska, West Virginia, New Mexico, Connecticut, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. Well done.”
Lazy reporters bought into the narrative that if Poland was building a border wall, it must be that they don’t like refugees. Yet Poland’s treatment of Ukrainian refugees disproves that. They’re just unwilling to let Lukashenko (Belarus) use imported refugees as a weapon.
Those who want to separate Israel from Ukraine support (so they can kill the Ukraine aid and help Putin win) are wrong, and overlook the obvious and many linkages: Russia-Iran-Hamas.
#StandWithUkraine
The number of falsehoods spread about these vaccines are too many to list here, and I won’t give them oxygen by repeating them. Suffice to say, I hate needles, I pass out if I watch my own blood drawn yet I signed up for my vaccine right away.
Why?
Putin Says He Was Not Impressed by Tucker Carlson
“Sincerely speaking, I didn’t fully enjoy this interview,” the Russian leader said this week.
My latest for
@thedailybeast
While France’s Macron keeps calling Putin then begging the rest of Europe to help him “save face,” Poland ships more weapons into Ukraine over its common border.
Polish President Duda says the Ukrainians in his country aren’t refugees, they’re guests.
Although there are 1.5M+ Ukrainians in Poland, there are no — zero — refugee camps. Instead, Poles have opened their homes. The Poles know what it’s like to be under threat from Moscow, and they have generously opened their country to Ukrainians in their time of need.
While some European leaders have dithered, Poland’s leaders have been clear and relentless in supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. The Poles have a clear understanding of Putin and what is at stake.
A Freedom Lounge displays portraits of Reagan and Thatcher within the former headquarters of the Polish Communist Party.
A statue of France’s DeGaulle stands outside the same building.
These are people who have lived the history others only read about.
Winsome Sears, the Republican Lt. Gov of Virginia, is a solid conservative, a veteran, and was the first female vet ever elected to the House of Delegates, defeating a 20-year incumbent D. Pro-2A, pro-life, anti-CRT, devout Christian.
She’s no phony. She is the real deal.
The Poles also refuse to be held hostage by Russian gas, showing an approach more enlightened and more realistic than other European countries. They are pro-energy production, and energy independence.
After the Belarus dictator tried screwing with Poland by importing refugees from the Middle East and shoving them across the border into Poland, the Poles responded by building a border wall that will be complete in eight months.
The “conservative” — and decent — thing to do is to side with the families of those murdered at Sandy Hook, and condemn Alex Jones for lying and slandering the families.
There is no gray area here. No “both sides.” Walk with me. 🧵
A blank GOP platform in 2020.
No red wave in 2022.
Lost the Senate.
Tiny margin in the House.
Losing candidates take no responsibility for their own performance.
What are we doing differently to win in 2024?
You know what’s not in this statement?
Any criticism of Putin whatsoever.
The guy who comes up with nicknames for everyone can’t summon even a syllable for Putin.
@visegrad24
Unfortunately this is fake. It’s the Ukraine ambassador to Japan, posing in Tokyo, not the Japanese ambassador to Ukraine posing in Kiev.
Big difference.
This evening I was invited to a private screening of Bearing Witness — footage of the Hamas terror attack of October 7.
The most disturbing 43 minutes of non-fiction film I have ever seen.
I have two conclusions to offer. 🧵
Russian state TV continues to capitalize on Tucker Carlson's statements. Dmitry Kiselyov, infamous for boasting that Russia can reduce the US to radioactive ash, is happy to air Tucker's suggestion the US would lose a potential war with Russia.
There is no “populist form of conservatism.” You have conservatism, based on principle, and populism, which is devoid of it.
The only question is how much Reaganite./Thatcherite conservative principle politicians are willing to jettison.
Are the GOP establishment’s days numbered?
After what transpired in Congress recently,
@KevinRobertsTX
says the GOP’s generational shift toward a populist form of conservatism is now clear and not going away.
“The Republican establishment doesn’t know it yet, but last weekend…
State Duma member Andrey Gurulyov emphasized that Russia is not on the side of Israel. Gurulyov and Vladimir Solovyov jointly laughed at the way Hamas overwhelmed the Iron Dome air defense system.
It's astonishing
@larryelder
is still promoting his flim-flam site, which claims, before votes have been counted, the recall election was "stolen."
It's the most irresponsible act I've ever seen from a CA candidate in my 20 years in politics here.
One of these disgusting insurrectionists was wearing a hoodie reading “Camp Auschwitz.” Another brought zip tie handcuffs to take hostages. PROSECUTE ALL OF THEM.
#BackTheBlue
🇺🇸
SEN. CRUZ STATEMENT ON JUSTICE BREYER’S RETIREMENT, JUSTICE JACKSON’S SWEARING IN
“Although we often didn’t agree, Justice Breyer was among the last independently-minded liberal justices on the Court, and I have always appreciated his reasoning in Van Orden v. Perry…”
After speaking with my colleagues in center right parties around the world at
@idualliance
meeting in London, it’s crystal clear conservatives around the world are strongly backing
#Ukraine
and oppose Russia’s illegal war of aggression.
Who on the “right” supports Russia? 🧵
Head of RT Margarita Simonyan predicted that Russia's demographic crisis will be resolved in the future, when streams of Americans will flood to Russia—even if they have to work fixing toilets. Russia will choose only the best and send the rest back home.
Russia is moving to ban foreign investors from selling off their Russian equities, no doubt attempting to stop a massive sell off.
But…it will also drive new foreign investment in Russia down to zero, as no sane investor or company would buy equities they cannot freely sell.
Pete is right. I was on the same ballot in 2014 as the Lt Gov nominee and
@pnjaban
was right there providing strong support from deep behind the Bay Area’s Iron Curtain.
During my campaign back in ‘14,
@pnjaban
was the only
@CAGOP
leader to come to my debates…I remember her convening a QA with
@CRNC
at Cal after the debate on campus…a serious commitment to growing the Party for over a decade.
REAGAN is the model going forward. Conservative, principled, positive and forward looking. Let’s take a look at why his approach is the right one — both in policy, and politics. 🧵
False claims of election rigging are also bad politics, because it provides an excuse for not building a bigger campaign or a bigger party. It becomes a permission structure to just run the same (losing) campaign next time, rather than running a better campaign.
If the Republican Party turns its back on Ukraine, it will be a sign the party has ceased to be the Reaganite, conservative, principled party which won one national election after another, and prevailed over the Soviet Union.
Ukraine was once part of the Russian Empire (which no longer exists, and hasn’t existed in over 100 years).
What else was part of the Russian Empire?
Alaska.
“Oh but Russia signed paper transferring it to the US.”
They did the same with Ukraine.
Please join me in prayer for Rabbi Charlie, the congregants and law enforcement responding to the gunman hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel in
#Colleyville
Texas.
To win a M-A-J-O-R-I-T-Y Trump needs the votes of everyone who voted for Romney or McCain, GOP who voted for Biden, and who didn’t vote in ‘20.
His demagoguing these voters may work in a banana republic where votes don’t matter, just the perception of power.
But not in 🇺🇸.
Finally, it’s been a goal of Putin’s Russia to erode America’s moral standing in the world, including our elections. If America’s democracy is called into question, Putin-style authoritarianism doesn’t look as bad. We should not play into this strategy.
Who else was at that dinner with Putin?
Mike Flynn, who was fired as National Security Adviser after about a month for lying to Vice President Pence about contacts with the Russians. He also lied to the FBI about it.
Flynn also sat with Putin and Stein…
27 Democrats including
@VP
signed a letter four years ago opposing any change to the filibuster. And, Biden endlessly defended the filibuster as a member of the Senate.
When it comes to protecting majority rule in America, a majority should rule in the United States Senate.
To protect our democracy, I support changing the Senate rules to prevent a minority of Senators from blocking action on voting rights.
There's nothing conservative, honorable, patriotic or defensible about attacking the Capitol, assaulting law enforcement, wrecking the place, or constructing gallows to hang the Vice President.
SPOILER ALERT: The RNC “review” of the 2022 mid-term election performance will be about as useful as Soviet economic forecasts in the 1980’s, and for the same reason.
The Republican National Committee is launching a review of the party’s performance in the midterm election and bringing on a team of outside advisers to help guide strategy, as the GOP reckons with its disappointing performance in the election
Why did Putin make sure Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein got a trip to Moscow and sat at his table at a dinner for his propaganda channel?
He’s working his way toward the center, starting at the extremes.
While the rebellion is not likely to succeed, it exposes Putin’s internal weaknesses.
The August 1991 Soviet coup against Gorbachev didn’t succeed either — yet 4 months later the Soviet Union dissolved.
Putin knows this.
America knows how to run elections, and no voters, including Republicans, should be dissuaded from casting their votes and participating because someone made a baseless assertion. (END)
“Ukraine is corrupt” is a smokescreen the Putin apologists make to dehumanize Ukrainians, to make it easier to turn a blind eye to the slaughter of civilians, including children and the elderly, by the fascist Russian invaders.
In Odessa, a few dozen miles from Russian troops, we met with MP
@GoncharenkoUa
and presented him with this American flag. He is a true patriot for his country. The view from this nearly empty restaurant allowed us to see the Black Sea coastline.
Reagan got a Democratic House to pass the largest tax cut in American history and a massive US military build up.
Trump couldn’t get a Republican Congress to repeal Obamacare or build his wall. 🧵
Trump in Iowa: “If it weren’t for John McCain, we’d have something better than Obamacare. John McCain, for some reason, couldn’t get his arm up that day.”
First, of the various anti-Israel protesters I have seen, I have not seen any condemn Hamas or the events of October 7.
Not one. Instead, I have seen endless rationalizing, explaining away, and whataboutism. None of that withstands any scrutiny.
Public figures should always be free from violence, harassment, and intimidation. That’s even more importantly true for their families. Wishing Speaker Pelosi and the entire family well, and a speedy recovery to Paul Pelosi.
Every Afghan citizen who helped the US military, at great risk to themselves, should get a visa to get the hell out of there. The Taliban will hunt these people down and kill them, making examples of them to deter working with the US in the future.
CA Republican Controller candidate
@lanheechen
is running about 4 points ahead of every other statewide GOP candidate (45% vs ~41%). He is a very strong candidate who ran a strong campaign, leading the statewide ticket in performance.
He has a bright future.
Our party failed to defeat a single Senator from the President’s party in the mid-term election.
This is the first time the opposition party has failed to do this in a mid-term since 1934.
@HannahDCox
Here are some of the “insane, entitled Ukrainians” I met in last month. You can’t see them because they’re in the ground, murdered by your buddy Putin.
I’ve lost 50k+ followers this week. The radical left and their big tech allies cannot marginalize, censor, or silence the American people. This is not China, this is United States of America, and we are a free country.
Spot on from
@MaxBoot
. We end wars by winning them, and Ukraine wins this one with enough HIMARS to take our every Russian ammo dump and command center in occupied territory and nearby Russia-Belarus.
Instead of becoming resigned to a never-ending war, the West should be focusing on how to shorten the conflict by enabling Ukraine to win,
@MaxBoot
writes