It was just a year ago that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" had our first profile of the U.S. House Representative from Louisiana’s 1st District, Steve Scalise, who we noted was a key member of the Tea Party Caucus participating in rampant Republican obstructionism with some interesting alliances, and that’s what helped him rise to the role of House Majority Whip. His rise to power has occurred with both the help of frequent appearances on the Fox News Channel as well as a close-knit relationship with the Family Research Council (an anti-gay hate group) that has seen him appear a number of times on Tony Perkins’ Washington Watch program to say they are both “on the right side of history” on their stance against same sex marriage. We noted at the time that Scalise had lied that the Affordable Care Act would “lead to healthcare rationing” while trying to fight tooth and nail from healthcare in any way including contraceptive coverage. He repeatedly kept trying to defund Planned Parenthood, falsely claimed the Bush era tax cuts created an economic boom, denied climate change because President Obama wore a coat to his second inauguration (that would be in January), defended the racist nickname of the Washington D.C. NFL franchise. He also claimed Obama really didn’t want to fight ISIS, and called for his impeachment over his executive orders over immigration. He truly is a nasty piece of work.
Steve Scalise was re-elected in the 2014 elections with 67% of the vote against Democrats Vinny Mendoza and Lee Dugas and as it turned out, he was a nastier piece of work then we knew, as about one month after we profiled Steve Scalise, an investigation was reported that found he had spoken at a conference of white supremacists in 2002.
It was pretty tough for Scalise to claim he didn’t know, considering the group, the European-American Unity and Rights organization was founded by David Duke, a former KKK Grand Wizard who hoped EURO would be the kinder, gentler version of the Klan, spoke via satellite to the gathering from a sister rally in Europe. Scalise, then a member of the Louisiana state legislature, spoke about how Louisiana’s Housing and Urban Development fund was nothing more than a giveaway to send tax dollars towards minorities in a “scam”. David Duke even said in February 2015 that Scalise “agreed with all his ideas”. That should come as little surprise, considering Scalise even refused to vote for a resolution to have the state of Louisiana apologize for slavery as a state legislator.
Rep. Scalise ignored all calls for his resignation, including ones from some of the hardest-right leading conservative pundits and Tea Party supporters, staying not just in Congress, but remaining a part of the House leadership. Most took that as a sad commentary on how far the GOP brand has fallen. He went right back into the thick of Congressional life, acting like there are no consequences for palling around with bigots, and pushing their kind of agenda:
- On January 22nd, 2015, an anti-abortion bill, HR 7, was moving through the House, and was halted because even some members of the GOP were put off by the language in the bill regarding its definition of rape. Steve Scalise, however, had no problem with that, and voted for it anyway. Hell, he co-sponsored it.
- On February 3rd, 2015, Rep. Scalise votes for the 60th Republican attempt at repealing the Affordable Care Act.
This in spite of the fact that the law is not just working, but better than experts predicted.
- On March 3rd, 2015, Scalise votes against funding the Department of Homeland Security as part of a Republican protest of President Obama’s executive orders on immigration.
- March 19th, 2015: While it’s traditional for members of the House Leadership of both parties to mark the anniversary of the March in Selma, Alabama, for Civil Rights by taking an annual trip there… Steve Scalise opted not to, instead going to a posh resort in Georgia.
- May 13th, 2015, Scalise votes for HR 36, a ban on abortion at 20 weeks.
- On September 11th, 2015, Steve Scalise votes against the United States’ nuclear treaty with Iran.
- On September 18th, 2015, Rep. Scalise votes with most House Republicans to defund Planned Parenthood, based on highly edited “sting” videos submitted by a Pro-Life advocacy group that have been repeatedly debunked by investigators.
- October 23rd, 2015: Scalise votes for HR 3762, the 61st attempt by Congressional Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act (which is still working better than was predicted).
Not only did Scalise refuse to resign from House Minority Whip after the revelations about him speaking to a SECOND hate group (the Family Research Council being his first, EURO his second), when House Speaker John Boehner abruptly resigned in late September 2015, he had the unfathomable cojones to throw his name into the ring to be his replacement. In other words, “Sure, I was an honored guest and speaker at David Duke’s ‘KKK-Lite’ Get-Together… but forget that! Forget all my other bigoted rhetoric! That was way back then! I DESERVE A PROMOTION!”
SPOILER ALERT, Steve Scalise is not the Speaker of the House. But he still is House Majority Whip, and sitting Congressman for Louisiana’s 1st District. Candidates have yet to announce for that election, because, well, Louisiana sort of has to get past the 2015 elections before 2016 gets on their radar. Still, Scalise could theoretically face a stiff challenge from someone in his own party, or a Democrat, in a Louisiana “jungle primary”. It’s doubtful his sordid past hanging out with people who accessorize their outfits with pointed white hoods is something his opponents won’t bring up in his first election since that came to light. Especially considering David Duke himself is talking about running.
Because this is exactly the sort of race the Republican Party needs to convince minority voters they’re just keen.