In this political climate, its hard to imagine congressional Republicans sinking any lower than they already have. Yet here we are, learning new information each day about how deeply morally bankrupt they are. According to Think Progress, the most recent and nauseating example comes from two Texas lawmakers who promised to donate money after the shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. They failed to make good on their promises—despite the fact that nine black churchgoers were killed in that horrific crime.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) apparently broke his pledge to give away contributions from a white supremacist leader who inspired a shooting at a black church in Charleston, S.C., in 2015. Another Texas lawmaker, Sen. Ted Cruz (R), donated to the victims but fell short of his pledge.
Gohmert and Cruz were among 23 Republican politicians who reportedly pledged to give away money they received from white supremacist leader Earl Holt, whose group helped to inspire the Charleston shooting. A review by ThinkProgress found that only Gohmert and Cruz apparently did not completely follow through on their promises to donate at least the amount they received to charitable causes.
How completely grotesque. They couldn’t even be bothered to give away money from a white supremacist. And since Republicans love to claim “fake news” these days, let’s be clear that this is not one of those things that could even remotely be misconstrued. Earl Holt is the leader of an organization called the Council of Conservative Citizens, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has classified as a hate group. And, apparently, it is his work that was an inspiration to Dylan Roof—the very shooter who slaughtered black people as they were in prayer service that Wednesday evening.
After the attack on Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the shooter, Dylann Roof, credited Holt’s website with helping to develop his racist views.
In an online manifesto, since taken down, Roof wrote about doing on online search for “black on White [sic] crime.”
“The first website I came to was the Council of Conservative Citizens,” Roof wrote. “There were pages upon pages of these brutal black on White[sic] murders. I was in disbelief. At this moment I realized that something was very wrong.”
After the shooting, Rep. Gohmert made a show of feigning empathy and solidarity for the victims and their families. After urging his home congregation in Tyler, Texas, to pray for the families of those lost, he promised to donate money. This was, of course, after he used the tragedy as an opportunity to suggest that the attack on Christians posed a threat to the country.
“The $750 contribution to my campaign fund and the $500 given to my PAC from a man that the Charleston shooter apparently says inspired him is being given to the Charleston church of our deceased brothers and sisters,” the statement read. “In fact, I am doubling those two amounts and donating those to our sister church where the victims were members so that they may best apply the money to what is needed right there where they gave their lives in prayer.”
There is no public record the congressman ever made that donation.
So that’s $2500 he promised but never ponied up. Sen. Cruz on the other hand donated some money but it was below what he had promised. What’s worse is that he gave the remaining amount back to Holt, the “inspirational” white supremacist that Dylan Roof got his ideas from in the first place.
Fellow Texas Republican Ted Cruz also felt short of his pledge to Charleston victims, donating just $8,700 of the $11,000 he promised. Cruz returned the remaining $2,300 to Holt. [...]
The senator’s office initially told The Guardian it would return the $8,500 donation. However, a spokesperson later said Cruz would make an $11,000 donation to the Mother Emanuel Hope Fund.
“[A]fter reflection, he decided that the best use of that money would not be to return it but instead use it to help support the families of victims from the Charleston shooting,” the unnamed spokesperson told The Guardian.
So even though he said he would use the money to help the victims’ families and wouldn’t return it, in the end, Cruz decided that they shouldn’t have all of the money. Instead, he gave Holt back a nice chunk of change. No wonder Donald Trump called him Lyin’ Ted.
This is repugnant and shameful. But these are the same politicians who, year after year, accept money from the NRA—even after mass shootings. If nothing else, they are at least consistent. It’s good that this kind of information is out in the open. Now we know for sure that white supremacists who incite violence and murder are openly donating to Republicans, and some of them aren’t one bit ashamed to accept and keep the money.
The midterms in 2018 can’t come soon enough. It’s time to vote all of these friends of racists out of office for good.