Conservative Ideology: A Big Lie

[cradleandshoot]

I think it is fair game to call out Paul on this. One of the points of constituting a government is to provide for the common welfare, of course. So when Paul and the entire Kentucky House delegation refuse to provide relief for a catastrophic storm across the eastern seaboard, but plead for it for Kentucky's folks after the tornados, here's what we see: they don't understand or care that the nation is based on a social contract. They just want theirs. This is Democratic or liberal virtue signaling. It is demonstrating that this group of politicians -- who, shocker alert, are 2021 GOP -- are hypocrites who don't really understand or believe in the Republic we knitted together in 1787.

I am happy to see my tax dollars go to these folks to help:

https://weather.com/storms/severe/video ... o-outbreak

Unfortunately, Rand Paul is mostly a jerk. Likely why his next door neighbor beat the crap out of him one day. I doubt it was spontaneous but the result of having to deal with the moron on a regular basis.

There is no longer "we" in this country. Only "me". We reap what we sow and sadly often get what we deserve.

That said, those folks impacted in this case should get as much support as they need from the rest of us.

So your saying violence is sometimes justified if you think your neighbor is an ass hat?

[DocBarrister]

(CNN)Almost all of the states that produce the most unfavorable economic and health care outcomes for children are among those poised to ban or severely restrict access to abortion if the Supreme Court overturns the nearly 50-year-old Roe v. Wade decision.

That pattern underscores the paradox that the states most committed to requiring women to carry pregnancies to term tend to invest the least in the health and economic security of expectant mothers and children after they are born.

Most of the 21 states with laws on the books that would "snap back" abortion restrictions if the court overturns Roe fall into the bottom half of state rankings on a wide array of measures tracking the well-being of children and families, including childhood poverty, low birth weight and premature births, access to health insurance for low-income mothers, availability of prenatal care and the share of kids enrolled in early childhood education, an analysis of public data sources shows.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/14/politics ... index.html

DocBarrister

[dislaxxic]

The MAGA Perversion of Patriotism

The concept of Citizen Arrest is being perversely corrupted by MAGA types...you know, those that've been brought out from under their rocks by the Moron...

..

[get it to x]

The MAGA Perversion of Patriotism

The concept of Citizen Arrest is being perversely corrupted by MAGA types...you know, those that've been brought out from under their rocks by the Moron...

..

Your attitude towards what you think are "The Great Unwashed" is the same thing that cost Hildebeast the 2016 election. It now appears many Hispanics are leaning MAGA. So much for cornering the market on black and brown people, as Black men are trending right as well. Probably because Dems have done a good job of marginalizing them with welfare laws and replacing them as fathers. Marriage is making a comeback in the among Blacks, and may exceed white marriage, which it did in the 60's before The Great Society. Black women are the Dems strongest cohort.

https://theliberalpatriot.substack.com/ ... roblem-dfc

[cradleandshoot]

The MAGA Perversion of Patriotism

The concept of Citizen Arrest is being perversely corrupted by MAGA types...you know, those that've been brought out from under their rocks by the Moron...

..

Your attitude towards what you think are "The Great Unwashed" is the same thing that cost Hildebeast the 2016 election. It now appears many Hispanics are leaning MAGA. So much for cornering the market on black and brown people, as Black men are trending right as well. Probably because Dems have done a good job of marginalizing them with welfare laws and replacing them as fathers. Marriage is making a comeback in the among Blacks, and may exceed white marriage, which it did in the 60's before The Great Society. Black women are the Dems strongest cohort.

https://theliberalpatriot.substack.com/ ... roblem-dfc

Shhhhhhhhhh, don't tell jaundice boy. You will confuse him and make him even more irrational than he is on a good day.

[CU88]

This guy went to the Naval Academy?

Madison Cawthorn today to an audience of mostly college students: “I think you should home school. I was home schooled all the way through. I am proudly a college dropout. Unless you are becoming a doctor or lawyer or engineer, I highly encourage you to drop out.”

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/stat ... 6140833794

Is he not making the case against home schooling and for finishing college?

[MDlaxfan76]

The MAGA Perversion of Patriotism

The concept of Citizen Arrest is being perversely corrupted by MAGA types...you know, those that've been brought out from under their rocks by the Moron...

..

Your attitude towards what you think are "The Great Unwashed" is the same thing that cost Hildebeast the 2016 election. It now appears many Hispanics are leaning MAGA. So much for cornering the market on black and brown people, as Black men are trending right as well. Probably because Dems have done a good job of marginalizing them with welfare laws and replacing them as fathers. Marriage is making a comeback in the among Blacks, and may exceed white marriage, which it did in the 60's before The Great Society. Black women are the Dems strongest cohort.

https://theliberalpatriot.substack.com/ ... roblem-dfc

you're posting a sub stack as if a reliable source ???

Keep up the mental masturbation if it feels good, x.

[youthathletics]

Amazed at how fast you shoot your load to discount the websource. Rex is credentialed and wrote for your favorite paper, TWJ, and fellow at Brookins, I suppose by your standards, you too, grossly enjoy mental masturbation because you post on fanlax. Quit putting people in a box.

[seacoaster]

Another viewpoint...on the Right's winged-heels to take us away from democracy:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... egal-phase

Warning: words.

[youthathletics]

Another viewpoint...on the Right's winged-heels to take us away from democracy:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... egal-phase

Warning: words.

One could argue it is a direct result of a past presidents mantra or wanting to "fundamentally transform America", and as usual, the left does not want to listen "to the people". Remember, it is how we got trump in the first place. So the result?....a strong counter punch, the other way. Rather than buying into the BS propaganda of fascism, no more than we want the far left fringe ideals, how about we use netwons third law and apply it. And instead of doubling and tripling down...listen to the people. Otherwise, it is a predetermined path, and our voice matters zero.

[seacoaster]

Another viewpoint...on the Right's winged-heels to take us away from democracy:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... egal-phase

Warning: words.

One could argue it is a direct result of a past presidents mantra or wanting to "fundamentally transform America", and as usual, the left does not want to listen "to the people". Remember, it is how we got trump in the first place. So the result?....a strong counter punch, the other way. Rather than buying into the BS propaganda of fascism, no more than we want the far left fringe ideals, how about we use netwons third law and apply it. And instead of doubling and tripling down...listen to the people. Otherwise, it is a predetermined path, and our voice matters zero.

It's not, unfortunately, "BS propaganda of fascism." And I have never once lobbied here for anything I would call "far left fringe ideals." Can you -- serious question -- describe what those things, translated to policy, would be? And then tell me who in government is espousing it/them?

Our voice doesn't matter, hombre, because we are letting the state legislatures gerrymander our votes into dust. And no question, the worst of that is happening in "Red" states. I've been trying to tell you this for a couple of years now, but you tend, I think, to laugh it off because it's working for your team. A predetermined path, where no one's vote really matters because the politicians have already chosen us.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Another viewpoint...on the Right's winged-heels to take us away from democracy:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... egal-phase

Warning: words.

One could argue it is a direct result of a past presidents mantra or wanting to "fundamentally transform America", and as usual, the left does not want to listen "to the people". Remember, it is how we got trump in the first place. So the result?....a strong counter punch, the other way. Rather than buying into the BS propaganda of fascism, no more than we want the far left fringe ideals, how about we use netwons third law and apply it. And instead of doubling and tripling down...listen to the people. Otherwise, it is a predetermined path, and our voice matters zero.

It's not, unfortunately, "BS propaganda of fascism." And I have never once lobbied here for anything I would call "far left fringe ideals." Can you -- serious question -- describe what those things, translated to policy, would be? And then tell me who in government is espousing it/them?

Our voice doesn't matter, hombre, because we are letting the state legislatures gerrymander our votes into dust. And no question, the worst of that is happening in "Red" states. I've been trying to tell you this for a couple of years now, but you tend, I think, to laugh it off because it's working for your team. A predetermined path, where no one's vote really matters because the politicians have already chosen us.

I have been saying this for years. The politicians are picking the voters. We don’t have a representative government.

[MDlaxfan76]

Amazed at how fast you shoot your load to discount the websource. Rex is credentialed and wrote for your favorite paper, TWJ, and fellow at Brookins, I suppose by your standards, you too, grossly enjoy mental masturbation because you post on fanlax. Quit putting people in a box.

ohh absolutely I'm guilty of 'mental masturbation" too.
No argument with that accusation.

But nah, getting published in the WSJ a few times or working for a think tank isn't exactly a guarantee of journalistic integrity. That said, I'd agree that the guy is specifically focused on this area of analysis, so not just some bozo in his basement. Worth consideration.

And please, please don't anyone link to any of my posts on Fanlax and claim they're somehow an authoritative source...take my posts with a large grain of salt, weigh them on the merits of their logic and substantiation, and that's it.

And this guy's sub stack post doesn't provide any reliable substantiation of his claims...but let's assume that his contentions are accurate and that Hispanics are trending away from Biden in specific and certainly shouldn't be taken for granted...fair point.

Indeed, if the point is simply that Hispanics are more contestable for the GOP than are African Americans, that's pretty darn demonstrably true. But X was claiming ohh so much more than that...wherein the 'mental masturbation' crack...

[SCLaxAttack]

After eight short months Mrs. Cawthorn wakes up. She and the idiot congressman announce their intention to divorce.

[a fan]

Another viewpoint...on the Right's winged-heels to take us away from democracy:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... egal-phase

Warning: words.

One could argue it is a direct result of a past presidents mantra or wanting to "fundamentally transform America", and as usual, the left does not want to listen "to the people". Remember, it is how we got trump in the first place. So the result?....a strong counter punch, the other way. Rather than buying into the BS propaganda of fascism, no more than we want the far left fringe ideals, how about we use netwons third law and apply it. And instead of doubling and tripling down...listen to the people. Otherwise, it is a predetermined path, and our voice matters zero.

Listening to the people has gotten us exactly what we have in 2021, and I'm not sure how many times I have to go over this.

The right and the center have been calling the shots for 40+ years. They-----the people----steered this course we've taken.

So if you're unhappy with where we've landed, you need to change parties, and start voting for someone else. You insist it's not Sanders.....so....who is going to give you this new course?

-who told us taxes are bad, YA?
-who told us borrowing doesn't matter, and that inflation isn't a thing?
-who told us that unions are bad, and so are protections of worker?
-who told us we should always choose freer trade?
-who told us playing global cop was the only choice, and all these invasions are needed?
-who told us that having the same .gov paid health care that every other 1st world nation enjoys is stupid?
-who told us that we have plenty of money for wars all over the world, but gee whiz, we just can't figure out how to offer free college and training to our own people?
-who keeps telling us trickle down works?
-who keeps telling us that spending is fine, so long as a R does it?

I could go on and on. At EVERY step, the left was ignored, because centrists like me, and conservatives like you said our path was better.

The ONLY group that bears no responsibility for these choices? The American left-----who has ZERO power over our Federal Government.

So....tell me about this new path you want to take?

[youthathletics]

Another viewpoint...on the Right's winged-heels to take us away from democracy:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... egal-phase

Warning: words.

One could argue it is a direct result of a past presidents mantra or wanting to "fundamentally transform America", and as usual, the left does not want to listen "to the people". Remember, it is how we got trump in the first place. So the result?....a strong counter punch, the other way. Rather than buying into the BS propaganda of fascism, no more than we want the far left fringe ideals, how about we use netwons third law and apply it. And instead of doubling and tripling down...listen to the people. Otherwise, it is a predetermined path, and our voice matters zero.

Listening to the people has gotten us exactly what we have in 2021, and I'm not sure how many times I have to go over this.

The right and the center have been calling the shots for 40+ years. They-----the people----steered this course we've taken.

So if you're unhappy with where we've landed, you need to change parties, and start voting for someone else. You insist it's not Sanders.....so....who is going to give you this new course?

-who told us taxes are bad, YA?
-who told us borrowing doesn't matter, and that inflation isn't a thing?
-who told us that unions are bad, and so are protections of worker?
-who told us we should always choose freer trade?
-who told us playing global cop was the only choice, and all these invasions are needed?
-who told us that having the same .gov paid health care that every other 1st world nation enjoys is stupid?
-who told us that we have plenty of money for wars all over the world, but gee whiz, we just can't figure out how to offer free college and training to our own people?
-who keeps telling us trickle down works?
-who keeps telling us that spending is fine, so long as a R does it?

I could go on and on. At EVERY step, the left was ignored, because centrists like me, and conservatives like you said our path was better.

The ONLY group that bears no responsibility for these choices? The American left-----who has ZERO power over our Federal Government.

So....tell me about this new path you want to take?

So now we have to include centrists in our discussions, because you want to separate yourself from a party. I suppose there’s a first for you....not picking a binary conclusion.

You and sc have over complicated the issue and avoided the point I made earlier. And again, refuse to acknowledge any wrong doing from the left. Whereas I can at least acknowledge equal, or closely equal participation from each side.

From now on, consider me a centrists. Which is likely 80% of us around here. That oughta clean up a bunch of the partisan innuendo.

[a fan]

Another viewpoint...on the Right's winged-heels to take us away from democracy:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... egal-phase

Warning: words.

One could argue it is a direct result of a past presidents mantra or wanting to "fundamentally transform America", and as usual, the left does not want to listen "to the people". Remember, it is how we got trump in the first place. So the result?....a strong counter punch, the other way. Rather than buying into the BS propaganda of fascism, no more than we want the far left fringe ideals, how about we use netwons third law and apply it. And instead of doubling and tripling down...listen to the people. Otherwise, it is a predetermined path, and our voice matters zero.

Listening to the people has gotten us exactly what we have in 2021, and I'm not sure how many times I have to go over this.

The right and the center have been calling the shots for 40+ years. They-----the people----steered this course we've taken.

So if you're unhappy with where we've landed, you need to change parties, and start voting for someone else. You insist it's not Sanders.....so....who is going to give you this new course?

-who told us taxes are bad, YA?
-who told us borrowing doesn't matter, and that inflation isn't a thing?
-who told us that unions are bad, and so are protections of worker?
-who told us we should always choose freer trade?
-who told us playing global cop was the only choice, and all these invasions are needed?
-who told us that having the same .gov paid health care that every other 1st world nation enjoys is stupid?
-who told us that we have plenty of money for wars all over the world, but gee whiz, we just can't figure out how to offer free college and training to our own people?
-who keeps telling us trickle down works?
-who keeps telling us that spending is fine, so long as a R does it?

I could go on and on. At EVERY step, the left was ignored, because centrists like me, and conservatives like you said our path was better.

The ONLY group that bears no responsibility for these choices? The American left-----who has ZERO power over our Federal Government.

So....tell me about this new path you want to take?

So now we have to include centrists in our discussions, because you want to separate yourself from a party. I suppose there’s a first for you....not picking a binary conclusion.

I don't want to separated myself from anyone. I voted for some of these people.....and have blood on my hands for their choices. I'm responsible for voting for them.

I'm telling you that we CHOSE this course, and have no one to blame but ourselves. The left had NOTHING to do with the above...the didn't get into office.

[PizzaSnake]

Another viewpoint...on the Right's winged-heels to take us away from democracy:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... egal-phase

Warning: words.

One could argue it is a direct result of a past presidents mantra or wanting to "fundamentally transform America", and as usual, the left does not want to listen "to the people". Remember, it is how we got trump in the first place. So the result?....a strong counter punch, the other way. Rather than buying into the BS propaganda of fascism, no more than we want the far left fringe ideals, how about we use netwons third law and apply it. And instead of doubling and tripling down...listen to the people. Otherwise, it is a predetermined path, and our voice matters zero.

Listening to the people has gotten us exactly what we have in 2021, and I'm not sure how many times I have to go over this.

The right and the center have been calling the shots for 40+ years. They-----the people----steered this course we've taken.

So if you're unhappy with where we've landed, you need to change parties, and start voting for someone else. You insist it's not Sanders.....so....who is going to give you this new course?

-who told us taxes are bad, YA?
-who told us borrowing doesn't matter, and that inflation isn't a thing?
-who told us that unions are bad, and so are protections of worker?
-who told us we should always choose freer trade?
-who told us playing global cop was the only choice, and all these invasions are needed?
-who told us that having the same .gov paid health care that every other 1st world nation enjoys is stupid?
-who told us that we have plenty of money for wars all over the world, but gee whiz, we just can't figure out how to offer free college and training to our own people?
-who keeps telling us trickle down works?
-who keeps telling us that spending is fine, so long as a R does it?

I could go on and on. At EVERY step, the left was ignored, because centrists like me, and conservatives like you said our path was better.

The ONLY group that bears no responsibility for these choices? The American left-----who has ZERO power over our Federal Government.

So....tell me about this new path you want to take?

“ Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”

— Mencken

“Be careful what you wish for ‘cause you might get it.”

— unattributed

[jhu72]

After eight short months Mrs. Cawthorn wakes up. She and the idiot congressman announce their intention to divorce.

Physically handicapped, mentally handicapped and a shity personality. What a whinner.

[seacoaster]

Here's a good sign for 2022:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... story.html

"The defiant far-right acolytes of former president Donald Trump in the House Republican caucus have embarked on a targeted campaign ahead of the midterm elections to expand their ranks — and extend their power — on Capitol Hill.

The effort, backed by Trump and guided by House members such as Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), is part of a broader push by followers of the “Make America Great Again” movement to purge the GOP of those not deemed loyal to the former president and his false claims that the 2020 election was rigged in favor of Joe Biden.

Former Army Green Beret Joe Kent is running for a U.S. House seat in Washington state held by another Republican, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, who voted to impeach Trump over his role in the events of Jan. 6 at the Capitol.

Kent said he has little interest in fighting with Democrats if he makes it to Congress. Instead, he wants to force Republicans into tough votes, starting with articles of impeachment against President Biden and a full congressional inquiry into the 2020 presidential election, which he says was stolen from Trump.

“A lot of it will be shaming Republicans,” Kent said. “I need to be going after the people in the Republican Party who want to go back to go-along-to-get-along. It’s put up or shut up.”

The goal, organizers of the effort say, is to supersize the MAGA group in the House from its current loose membership of about a half-dozen — and give it the heft that, combined with its close alliance with Trump, would put it in a position to wield significant influence should Republicans win the House majority.

Key to the strategy is to coalesce MAGA-movement support around certain candidates running in Republican primaries in heavily pro-Trump congressional districts where the primary victor is all but assured to win the seat in November. That effort is being bolstered by redistricting, as state lawmakers draw districts even more partisan than the current lines.

In 2020, Trump won 45 districts by more than 15 percentage points. Under new maps already finalized in more than a dozen states, he would have won 78 districts by that margin, according to a Washington Post analysis.

“We should be gaining MAGA seats,” Boris Epshteyn, a Trump ally, said on a recent episode of the radio show hosted by former Trump strategist Stephen K. Bannon. “It’s not just about ‘let’s add some Republican seats,’ it’s about ‘let’s add MAGA strongholds.’ ”

Trump critics warn that a stronger MAGA wing in Congress threatens democracy.

“We’re looking at a nihilistic Mad Max hellscape. It will be all about the show of 2024 to bring Donald Trump back into power. … They will impeach Biden, they will impeach Harris, they will kill everything,” said Rick Wilson, a longtime Republican strategist who is sharply critical of Trump.

Trump has taken an active role in selecting candidates, so far doling out dozens of endorsements, and many of the candidates, like Kent, are challenging incumbents in GOP primaries for state and federal positions. For the 2022 House races, Trump has already thrown his support behind more than two dozen Republicans, including five running against Republican incumbents.

Candidates seeking his approval meet with him at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., where he peppers them with questions that test their MAGA bona fides. A Trump spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

Patrick Witt is a former Yale quarterback running for Georgia’s 10th Congressional District seat against a Republican who formerly held the seat, and he visited Trump recently. So did Bo Hines, 26, who also played football at Yale and is running for a still-to-be-determined seat in North Carolina.

The emerging candidates — some former collegiate athletes and military veterans, telegenic and mostly White male millennials — have benefited from publicity from Bannon and the fundraising prowess and endorsements of the alliance of Republican House members who have cast themselves in Trump’s image, including Greene, Cawthorn, Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.).

Over the summer, Greene and Gaetz went on the road together, holding “America First” rallies in various states, dishing out applause lines about the election being stolen and Trump running in 2024.

Last month, the duo planned to attend an event for Graham Allen, an Army veteran and conservative podcast host running in South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District against Rep. Tom Rice (R), who voted to impeach Trump. When they had to cancel their appearance to vote against Biden’s infrastructure package, they sent a video message.

“We need him here. He’s the exact type of Republican we need that won’t cower, won’t fall in line to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger and will stop the radical Democrats from destroying our great country,” Greene said in the video, aiming at two Republican House members who are among Trump’s most fervent critics.

Cawthorn has endorsed seven Republicans in 2022 House races — a figure that could effectively double the size of the MAGA squad were they to win. Greene’s and Gaetz’s offices did not respond to questions about how many candidates they have endorsed, but they’ve made clear their intent to scout MAGA candidates. In a Vanity Fair interview published in August, Gaetz called himself and Greene Trump’s “advance team” and said Trump christened their plan to be “out there in the early-primary states keeping the band in tune, if you will.”

Some of the endorsements put them at odds with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who has staked Republican money and strategy on flipping the handful of seats the party needs to win back the majority rather than taking sides in a battle between the MAGA crew and less Trumpian members.

Some of the MAGA candidates are openly disdainful of McCarthy. Witt would not say whether he would support McCarthy for speaker but did say that if Trump wanted the job — a theory that was bandied about on far-right sites — he’d “support him 100 percent.” When Hines was in Washington recently, he met with McCarthy. Asked whether that put him at odds with the MAGA squad, Hines responded, “Right now, he’s the leader of a party.”

Former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon speaks after appearing in federal court in Washington on Nov. 15. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
Party purity tests in primary elections aren’t new, but the bar has moved sharply since Trump’s election. The RINO — Republican in name only — hunters of a decade ago, like Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), who forced then-Sen. Arlen Specter to switch parties rather than face him in an unwinnable primary, are now the hunted in a party that has remade itself in Trump’s image.

Toomey, who was among the handful of Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, is retiring next year rather than seek reelection. Departures are marking the House as well: Kinzinger (Ill.) and Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio) are stepping down rather than face MAGA-backed primary opponents after intense backlash to their votes in favor of impeachment.

Greene provided the template for the candidacies now gaining strength. When she won her primary election in a stunning 2020 upset in one of the reddest districts in the country, it was a foregone conclusion that she would win the general election.

To secure the endorsement of high-profile MAGA figures like Cawthorn, Greene or Trump himself, the candidates must push the unfounded claim that the 2020 election was stolen and show complete fealty to the former president — “Pro-Trump” features prominently in their social media bios and on their campaign websites.

They talk tough on the danger they say is posed by migrants crossing the southern border, and they rail about prime Fox News topics such as “woke fascism,” critical race theory and transgender laws — appeals also made by Trump.

Witt’s candidacy was boosted one recent evening in the Lincoln dining room of the Capitol Hill Club, a private GOP hangout for 70 years frequented by the kind of establishment Republican insiders the MAGA squad is plotting to overthrow.

The former quarterback, 31, once had NFL aspirations. In 2012, while a finalist for a Rhodes scholarship, he learned an informal sexual assault accusation had been leveled against him; he did not pursue the award. Witt, who denied the accusation, said in an interview that he blames a New York Times article about it for ruining his chances to play professionally. Instead, he went to Harvard Law School. It was there, he said, while surrounded by liberals and “RINOs,” that he became a Trump supporter, mocking his classmates after the 2016 election for what he said was being offered — puppies, therapy and delayed finals — to deal with the emotional trauma.

Witt served in the Trump administration and after the 2020 election worked with the president’s legal team in Georgia that tried, and failed, to prove the election was stolen from Trump. He is running for Congress, he said in an interview, to continue Trump’s fights.

“I don’t have a lot of confidence in current Republican leadership to fight for these ideas,” he said.

When Witt met with Trump, he said, the former president told him he was looking for “a fighter’s type of personality and demeanor.”

Hosts of his D.C. fundraiser included Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who advised Trump on overturning the election results; Darren Beattie, a Trump speechwriter who was fired in 2018 after speaking at an event attended by white nationalists; Andrew Kloster, a former Trump White House official who is part of the legal team investigating the 2020 election in Wisconsin; and Raheem Kassam, a co-host of Bannon’s “War Room” podcast. Greene — whom Witt often admiringly retweets — was there as well.

Cawthorn told the group he wasn’t sure he wanted to get involved in the crowded primary in which Witt is running but changed his mind after the two had dinner.

“We went, we got Indian food, it was fantastic. I ordered lamb chops because I didn’t know what anything he was ordering was. I was terrified. It was great food,” Cawthorn said to chuckles from his mostly White audience. “Right now, we need warriors in Congress who are going to use their intellect, their ability to debate, their ability to stand up strongly … to take on this totalitarian regime.”

Cawthorn spokesman Luke Ball said the congressman employs a rigorous endorsement process. His campaign team reviews the candidate’s “declared values, past statements, current policy stances, and electability.” Then a campaign official grills the candidate on immigration, social issues and election integrity — the GOP terminology for preventing what Trump has falsely claimed are rigged elections. If the candidate passes those initial tests, the findings are presented to Cawthorn’s campaign manager. Only then does the candidate personally meet with the congressman.

“Any candidate I endorse must be willing to go on offense when it comes to messaging, advancing the America First MAGA agenda in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Cawthorn said in an emailed statement. “They can’t allow the left to run roughshod over us and our narrative.”

By any conventional standard, those against whom Witt is running are all far-right conservatives, including trucking company owner Mike Collins and former representative Paul Broun, who is hoping to return to Congress after a 2014 loss. Broun, 75, is a Trump supporter, but he won’t go quite as far as to say the 2020 election was stolen.

“There is evidence that there was a lot of fraudulent voting. … Don’t know if it was enough to change the election. I don’t know,” he said in a phone interview.

Hines, like Witt, is Ivy League-educated and focuses his pitch on populist themes but is equally conversant in GOP culture wars. Greene and Cawthorn, he said, are “patriots.”

Asked whether Biden is the country’s legitimate president, Hines paused for several seconds.

“I will say that I believe that the 2020 election was stolen. I think that we can go into a lot more detail about what that means,” Hines said. “But President Biden is currently in the White House and he is our president.”

Some of those running to join the MAGA caucus are more overtly controversial. Anthony Sabatini, a Republican state representative in Florida who doesn’t know yet what House district he is seeking, calls Democrats who support mask mandates “Nazis.” During the racial justice protests in May 2020, he tweeted a photo of an AR-15 as a warning to protesters. In a now-deleted tweet, he shared a link to a QAnon website that came with a warning about violent content.

In an interview, Sabatini cited McCarthy as an example when he said the “elected class of the Republican Party don’t like their own voters; they think they are better than their own voters.”

“The Republican Party is never really moving the issues that matter to the base. If they did, the entire Department of Education would be defunded,” he said. “They are not in step with what their voters want.”

Sabatini has racked up endorsements from many MAGA members of Congress, including Cawthorn, Gaetz and Greene, and said he’s waiting for a call from Mar-a-Lago saying that Trump will endorse him.

Kent, 41, has Trump’s endorsement. They met at Dover Air Force Base in 2019, both there for the return of the remains of Shannon Kent, his wife and the mother of their two sons, who was killed by an Islamic State suicide bomber during a Navy deployment in Syria.

Kent blames her death on the “Republican foreign policy establishment,” which he said didn’t follow Trump’s plans to fully withdraw U.S. troops from the country.

When Herrera Beutler voted to impeach Trump, Kent said, he felt stirred to protect Trump. He visited Mar-a-Lago in May; Trump told him he needed to see whether Kent could raise money and gain traction. By midsummer, he had Trump’s endorsement. As of the end of September, he had raised more than $1 million.

“I think for the first two years our job is to be the resistance. We’re going to be fighting the Republican Party a lot,” he said. “I think for your average Republican voter, what comes out of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s mouth is what they want to hear. That’s what Trump did; he brought the average American into the room.”