Republican state representative Jason Villalba has been a Never Trumper from the start, and this March, it likely cost him re-election to the Texas house seat he’s held since 2013. With nothing to lose and everything at stake, Villalba wrote a blistering critique of Putin’s puppet for The Texas Tribune’s “TribTalk” this week, calling for fellow GOPers to demand the impeachment of Donald Trump.
(V)erily I say unto you today, if we do not stop this man now, today, over 500 days into his presidency, we will be equally culpable in what he has planned for our great nation. President Trump thinks you are a fool. He believes you will never abandon him. And he believes that that there is almost nothing that he can do that would cause you to abandon supporting him.
But what he doesn’t know is that you are not a fool. You, like me, are an American. And no man will own your heart and mind like this president thinks he owns you.
Now, before folks start celebrating VIllalba and thinking he’s a Democrat in disguise, it’s important to note that the outgoing state rep, who fancies himself a Reagan Republican, is still a raging garbage fire. He’s a fervent anti-choicer seated firmly in the pocket of the NRA, who made headlines in 2015 for trying to criminalize the filming of law enforcement officers. Villalba, whom Democratic state rep Diego Bernal once called a “Republican with a conscience ... by Texas standards,” also takes a general stance against laws protecting the LGBTQ community, and has been known to hide from constituents when criticized on social media.
An enemy of one’s enemy is an ally, as the saying goes, and while that’s not really true, it’s always refreshing to hear anyone on the right break rank and speak rationally of this sentient Cheeto who stole the presidency. It’s not every day someone who hates abortion and loves guns agrees with the left on anything, right?
Let’s return to Villalba’s op-ed.
Today is the day we stand up and fight for the American values that Reagan taught us: truth, justice, peace, civility, comity and righteousness.
This is who we are. Not the sordid, ugly, Trumpists who require anger and vitriol.
We have the clarity and focus to do what is right to make our communities better and stronger. This is who we are — not the contorted caricature that the alt-right has created of us.
We are better than what this president suggests we are. We eschew ugliness and divisiveness. Donald J. Trump is no longer our leader. It is time to push him into the ash bin of history.
PUSH HIM INTO THE ASH BIN. Nice, Jason. Nice.
You can find the full editorial here, and check out State Reps. Bernal and Villalba on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee below, for a reminder of how excited we get these days whenever someone on the right exercises a modicum of basic human decency.