Dems Turn Mike Johnson’s First Viral Moment Into Anti-GOP Ad

MicroWave@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 399 points – Dems Turn Mike Johnson’s First Viral Moment Into Anti-GOP Ad
thedailybeast.com

Democrats are testing whether a moment when Republicans shouted down a reporter for asking about Mike Johnson’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election will have a political impact.

When House Republicans held an impromptu press conference late Tuesday night to celebrate coalescing around their new speaker nominee, they were in no mood to answer tough questions—or even the obvious one.

So when ABC reporter Rachel Scott asked Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA)—the speaker nominee who has now been elevated to the speakership—about his leading efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Republicans were having none of it.

They drowned out the reporter with boos. Johnson said “next question.” And Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) told the reporter to “shut up!”

Now, a D.C.-based advocacy group, Courage For America, is seizing on the moment to attack Republicans and quickly define the new speaker.

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Evangelical christofascist stands proudly next to a divorcee captured on video performing sexual acts in public.

Just one more way in which the GOP can advertise their rank hypocrisy in bright neon signs.

Wait, he's standing next to a divorcee? Does he know how dangerous that is? Johnson has said that divorce is one of the reasons why we have mass shootings! For his own safety, he needs to keep Boebert at least 10 feet away at all times!!!

The Republicans get what they deserve. A speaker who is an advertisement to vote Democrat every time he opens his mouth.

Eh. The speaker of the house isn't something a swing voter cares about. I doubt they understand the basic civics of what all this means, or else they would have picked a side by now. We're definitely not in a "Both sides have decent ideas, so im not sure" era.

Edit - I'm sure it will help bleed "fiscal conservatives" some more, though.

True they probably dont care about who the speaker is. But he is now the defacto leader of republicans in governemnt. Ads showing Johnson calling for the criminalization of homosexuality, killing medicare/social security, repealing gay marriage or even walking back no fault divorces will be powerful. Johnson sets the legislative agenda in the house, tying reps to his agenda is what every republican ad did with Nancy Pelosi for god knows how long.

Though i wonder if Johnson is still speaker by next fall. Dude is going to run afoul of someone sooner or later and we will get another motion to vacate

They care about what ads tell them to care about basically, and if this guy creates a bunch of content for the Democrats, it will flip people. They may not pay attention to what's going on, but that doesn't mean they're unreachable.

If you watch the ad linked in the article, at the end it says, "Tell Congressman Santos, Don't Support Speaker Johnson's Extreme Agenda."

...Congressman Santos? As in George Santos? The guy who claimed that he was a "star player" on the Baruch volleyball team? As in the guy who was indicted on three additional felonies this month, in addition to the charges from earlier this year?

And the article says:

The non-profit group is launching an ad series Wednesday night targeting New York Republicans with the viral moment. The ad will run against New York Republican Reps. Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino, George Santos, Anthony D’Esposito, Nicole Malliotakis, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Elise Stefanik, Brandon Williams, Nick Langworthy, and Claudia Tenney.

So, yes, they are hilariously targeting the constituents of George Santos, who I think is already very unpopular with his constituents (since he lied to them), and who might have to campaign for reelection from jail.

That's absolutely insane. I mean, the idea of telling constituents to call or write their Republican congressman is laughable to begin with (they are absolutely incapable of actually listening to their constituents), but Santos in particular only lies. He has no other gear.

It's not unreasonable to tell constituents to call their congressman. The one time politicians have to believe in math is when they're next running for office, and if they catch wind that an organized group of people are paying attention to them, and might vote against them in a block, and might actively work to convince others not to vote for them, that will be a concern.

Of course we've got gerrymandering, which makes that less of a concern, but still, even "safe" districts can flip unexpectedly.

I think you're missing the sarcasm, they're playing off the methods of the White House media team, and running in fringe areas. The intent is to remind those in NY that Santos won the vote, so, you know, vote better. (My guess, anyway)