On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, as well as 2020, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” published profiles of the U.S. House Representative from Tennessee’s 4th Congressional District, Scott Desjarlais, an Episcopalian physician from Tennessee whose religious background would have made him the perfect Republican to push their social agenda against abortion, contraceptives, and gay rights, while also giving them a guy with the credibility to argue against the Affordable Care Act.
The problem with that, though, is Desjarlais has proven to be an embarrassing hypocrite, because while he portrays himself a champion of the pro-life movement, his divorce records were unsealed, and the media discovered he protected the sanctity of marriage by cheating on his wife with four women, and pressured not only his wife (on tape, no less) into getting an abortion, but one of his mistresses. And that mistress was also apparently one of his patients (and she wasn’t the only patient he slept with)… so there went the credibility of the “doctor against the ACA” angle. Also, the “family values Republican” angle, considering he admitted sleeping with six women — including two patients, three co-workers and a drug company representative — during his three-year marriage. But don’t worry, he’s assured everyone that “God has forgiven him”.
Desjarlais is also a big hard-liner on immigration, what with the time he told an 11 year old girl that he was going to deport her dad, and all. Desjarlais has been dodging facing his constituents like a coward these past few years. and his voting record makes it clear that he has no intention of explaining anything to them:
- December 3rd, 2019: Rep. Desjarlais votes against a resolution to disallow Russia from re-entering the G7 and makes it the G8 until it leaves Ukraine.
- December 18th, 2019: Desjarlais ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the impeachment of Donald Trump.
- December 10th, 2020: DesJarlais signs his name to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, begging them to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The same election that he won re-election in.
- January 7th, 2021: Scott DesJarlais votes for the objection to the electoral college’s votes in the 2020 election, a failure to send any sort of message that he wasn’t intimidated or sympathetic to those who attacked the Capitol to attempt a violent coup.
- January 13th, 2021: Rep. DesJarlais votes against the second impeachment of Donald Trump, because the Republican Party no longer feels like they should be accountable for anything, including failed coups that result in the deaths of both their participants and police officers.
- February 4th, 2021: Scott DesJarlais votes to keep Marjorie Taylor Greene’s committee assignments, because he wouldn’t want her to be accountable for all the bigoted remarks and conspiracy theories she’s spread online (probably because she’s a kindred spirit).
- February 25th, 2021: DesJarlais votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
- March 3rd, 2021: Rep. DesJarlais votes against HR 1, a bill created to prevent the corruption of money in politics, and protect voter access to the ballot box.
- March 3rd, 2021: Scott DesJarlais votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
- March 10th, 2021: DesJarlais votes against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, because he feels people deserve to die in poverty during a pandemic.
- March 17th, 2021: Rep. DesJarlais votes against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
- May 19th, 2021: Rep. DesJarlais votes against HR 3233, the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol Attack.
- May 20th, 2021: DesJarlais is one of 63 Republicans who vote against the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act.
- June 16th, 2021: Scott DesJarlais is one of 14 Republicans who vote against celebrating Juneteenth as a federal holiday.
- July 22nd, 2021: Rep. DesJarlais is one of 16 Republicans who vote against HR 3895, the Allies Act, which was passed without his support to raise the amount of visas offered and to expedite their issue to Afghan translators and their families to honor our promise to protect them against the Taliban after U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, thus feeling we should go back on our word and leave them to die.
In explicably, even as the #MeToo movement continues, Scott Desjarlais remains in Congress, now re-elected with 67% of the vote to a sixth term in spite of being a complete hypocrite and creep.
How hypocritical? He currently is railing against the Biden Administration for mandating federal employees get the Covid-19 vaccine, because he suddenly feels like people should have the freedom to make their own medical choices. Y’know, provided they’re not a woman seeking an abortion unless the women in question haven’t had sex with him.