FROM FAST FORWARD, LINK BELOW:
Several interesting but hardly surprising developments in the field of GOP Trumpkin candidates running for various offices across the country this year: Many of them are refusing to debate their opponents, blocking reporters from attending their rallies, and refusing to be interviewed one-on-one by serious reporters.
Political commentator Amanda Carpenter, former communications director for US Senator Ted Cruz, examines this phenomenon through the campaign of ex-football player Herschel Walker, who's running in the GOP primary for the Senate seat held by Democrat Raphael Warnock.
As she writes in the The Bulwark:
Debates? Skip 'em. Sit down with reporters and be grilled on policy? Nah. See, Herschel Walker doesn't make campaign stops so much as he makes appearances, speaks to fans, and poses for photos. Welcome to the life of a celebrity candidate.
Walker is particularly anxious to avoid being interviewed. After all, his ex-wife says he put a gun to her head and threatened to kill her. An ex-girlfriend, now deceased, says he threatened to blow her head off. A Dallas Cowboys cheerleader says Walker aggressively stalked her. He admits to battling mental illness and playing Russian roulette, and to fantasizing about shooting a man point-blank in the head for the "visceral enjoyment."
According to AP reporter Sudhin Thanawala, Ted Budd has skipped four Republican primary debates for a North Carolina US Senate seat. GOP candidates for governor in Ohio, Nevada, and Nebraska also have refused to debate their opponents.
CNN correspondent Kyung Lah and photojournalist Ronnie McCray were recently barred from a campaign rally held by Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, a Republican. Other GOP candidates are doing the same.
But there's another, more disturbing pattern emerging: The number of Republican candidates for high office who are facing significant allegations of domestic violence, including sexual assault. And what's even more disturbing is that none of them have been driven out of their races by the allegations -- allegations that in a more civil time would have put an end to their candidacies because of simple human decency.
In Missouri, Eric Greitens is running for the US Senate. This despite the fact that he resigned as Missouri's governor in 2018 after a hairdresser testified under oath that he abused her during their illicit affair.
She said he taped her hands to pull-up rings in his basement, blindfolded her, stripped her clothes off, and took a photo of her. He then threatened to release the photo if she revealed their affair, although I'm not so sure how that would help him.
Then his ex-wife said in a sworn affidavit that he violently abused her, too, and had whacked one of their sons so hard that it loosened some of his teeth.
Walker is leading his race in Georgia, despite the numerous charges against him. Trump, no stranger to many, many, sexual assault allegations, loves him and has endorsed him.
In Ohio, Max Miller, the guy who allegedly hit former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham on the day they broke up, is running for an Ohio House seat, again with Trump's support.
In Nebraska, where Charles Herbster is running for governor, a Republican state senator, Julie Slama, has accused him of sexually assaulting her three years ago when she was 22. Then seven more women came forward to say he groped them, too. Trump loves him. That GOP primary is today.
So the next time you hear a Republican claim to belong to the party that is tough on crime, remember that they're talking about other people who commit crimes. Not themselves.
It is remarkable how tolerant Republican voters are of sex-related accusations against their candidates. Misogyny, sexual harassment, domestic abuse -- no problem! It's interesting what's acceptable in a GOP political candidate (assaulting women) and what's not (not worshipping Trump).
Thanks for reading. What ever happened to shame? E-mail comments and suggestions to teresa.hanafin@globe.com, or follow me on Twitter @BostonTeresa. See you Friday. |
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