Chief of Staff Kelly said he was “stunned” by a speech by Rep. Wilson taking credit for getting the funding for the FBI building in her district. That was a lie. She didn’t.
He also said she did not mention the two FBI agents for whom the building was named. Another lie. She did.*
The second would be a glaring omission, if true, which it wasn’t.
But the first?
If something is wrong with taking credit for bringing money and projects into your Congressional District, shame on all 435 of them. Getting money and projects for your district is one of the main things they do. It would be political malpractice not to mention it whenever possible.
Why I’m old enough to remember way back in 2009-10 when GOP Rep. after GOP Rep. was clamoring to take credit for stimulus projects in their districts.
Who cares if they voted against the stimulus, like every single damn Republican.
Of course they were going to take credit for the project they voted to kill in utero.
Of course they posed with giant checks at ribbon cutting ceremonies for roads and buildings that would have broken no ground if their votes had prevailed.
Of course they patted themselves on the back so much they all needed Tommy John surgery.
The document above is but one example of this — Rep. Austria of Ohio’s press release proclaiming how “proud” he was to get the funds for the rail project he tried to kill.
The point is not just hypocrisy. It’s the levels of lies and phony outrage in Kelly’s statement and the reaction to it.
It’s a great example of the way the Republican phony outrage machine works.
They don’t just lie. They make the lie seem horrible even if it isn’t.
*I’m not minimizing this much more pernicious lie.