On this date in 2019, as well as in 2020, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profile the U.S. House Representative from Tennessee’s 2nd Congressional District, Tim Burchett, who is now serving who was first elected to that position in the 2018 elections, allowing him to replace the disgraced John Duncan, Jr. in a highly conservative district that the GOP have held since, oh… 1857. Mind you, Burchett underperformed what Duncan used to do at the polls, because Burchett, the former mayor of Knox County, is a rabid Bigfoot enthusiast, whose greatest achievement in terms of policy was to make it legal for his constituents at home to eat roadkill when he was still a member of the Tennessee state legislature in the 1990s. (Knox County apparently prefers their mayors eccentric, as Burchett’s replacement was Glenn Jacobs, aka WWE’s Kane.)
Burchett has a long, sordid history of campaign finance violations dating back to his time in the Tennessee State Senate, including an investigation in 2018 that had the FBI considering whether or not they should pursue tax evasion charges. He also has been quite prolific on Twitter, being dumb enough to besmirch the University of Tennessee football team (not a smart political move for someone from Tennessee), and to make non-sequitur attacks on “Serbian dirtbags”. The latter slight, he of course refuses to apologize for, and the former he blew off as “something I deleted after five minutes”.
Tennessee’s 2nd Congressional District has a +25 Republican lean in the Cook Partisan Voting Index, helping him get re-elected in 2020 with 68% of the vote. Thus, he has returned to Washington to do the following:
- December 18th, 2019: Burchett 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.
- May 15th, 2020: Burchett votes against the HEROES Act, written further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
- December 10th, 2020: Burchett 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: Tim Burchett 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. Burchett 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: Tim Burchett 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: Burchett votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
- March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Burchett 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: Tim Burchett votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
- March 10th, 2021: Burchett 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. Burchett 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: Tim Burchett votes against HR 3233, the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol Attack.
- May 20th, 2021: Burchett is one of 63 Republicans who vote against the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act.
With Denver Riggleman having lost in his own Virginia district in 2020, Tim Burchett is now the only openly proud sasquatch enthusiast in Congress. And, if that wasn’t weird enough already, on June 16th, 2021, Burchett chatted with a reporter from TMZ about the existence of UFOs, citing passages from the Bible he felt indicate they exist, and his belief that there was a coverup of a recovered UFO in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947.
Next up, we’re going to find out he believes in the Loch Ness Monster and Mothman, too.
One Year Ago, July 20th, 2020: Tim Burchett (TN)… 2020 Update
Two Years Ago, July 20th, 2019: Tim Burchett (TN)… Original Profile
Three Years Ago, July 20th, 2018: Michael Snyder (ID)
Four Years Ago, July 20th, 2017: Jason Chaffetz (UT)… 2017 Update
Five Years Ago, July 20th, 2016: Jason Chaffetz (UT)… 2016 Update
Six Years Ago, July 20th, 2015: Jason Chaffetz (UT)… 2015 Update
Seven Years Ago, September 6th, 2014: Jason Chaffetz (UT)… Original Profile
