The civil war within the Republican Party continues. In fact, it is heating up as the midterm elections offer up the possibility of the GOP retaking control of at least the House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate. This means the many Republican operatives and representatives vying for power and willing to turn a blind eye to sedition are turning their wilted souls toward one another. Like Sauron’s eye refocusing on itself, stories are beginning to leak out that could only come from inside the house!
On Friday, The Daily Beast dropped an exclusive report titled “Inside Trumpworld’s Dark Obsession With the GOP Whip Race,” where they cited anonymous “Republican strategists” talking about how the belief on the Hill is that if the GOP is able to retake control of the House in November, the spot most in question is the majority whip position. One of the top Republicans vying for the spot is Rep. Tom Emmers of Minnesota. His competition, according to the report, is Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana. Banks is the preferred candidate of none other than Donald Trump Jr. But one part of the report also speaks to the kinds of possible favors Banks is willing to offer up, which in turn might actually help him gain more power in the GOP. Like this: “Deep down, he dies to be liked by the Establishment. He hires Tucker Carlson’s son, a 24-year-old kid, to be his communications director.”
Tucker Carlson took time away from freaking out about his personal text exchanges with Alex Jones to reportedly call Republican Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota. Emmer is top (lap)dog over at the National Republican Congressional Committee and according to Axios, Carlson angry-called the chairman to demand that he reveal “which staff member took a swipe at” his son. Carlson reportedly told Emmer that if that information was not revealed to him, he would “assume Emmer himself was to blame for the quote.”
Twenty-five-year-old Buckley Carlson* worked his way up to the position of “communications director” with Banks after being hired as a “staff assistant” in 2019. According to Axios, if the GOP takes back the House majority, Rep. Banks is expected to “face off” against Rep. Emmer to see who becomes the next House Republican whip. That’s the No. 3 lapdog behind majority leader and speaker of the House.
The source that spoke with Axios says that a Emmer denied any knowledge about or part in pointing out that the only reason Tucker Carlson’s 25-year-old kid has such an important job on Capitol Hill is because Tucker is a highly influential propaganda conduit for the conservative movement. Carlson did not believe Emmer, says Axios’ source, and now Emmer is on notice that Tucker Carlson, who has made a career of unabashedly lying, will likely turn his lying powers onto Emmer.
Banks is a classic Republican figure at this point in history. As The Daily Beast points out, the notches for and against him are ... hard to square:
For another, some are pointing out that Banks was an enthusiastic backer of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY)—the one-time No. 3 House Republican herself who has turned on her party over the GOP’s affected ignorance over Jan. 6.
Banks donated $1,000 to Cheney—in 2016, mind you, but heresy nonetheless in the most MAGA circles. (Banks has since campaigned on behalf of Cheney’s primary rival Harriet Hageman, something Emmer didn’t even do before the primary.)
Once an anti-Trumper, Banks, like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, and others before him, very quickly did a 180-degree, goose-stepping about face in order fall in line behind the MAGA machine. After the story came out another famous nepotism beneficiary, Donald Trump Jr., best known for being strangely sweaty, beady-eyed, and fast-talking, went to his Twitter account and wrote, “Why did Tom Emmer tell his consultants to run to the leftwing Daily Beast to trash Jim Banks, Tucker Carlson and Tucker's family? Does he really think that’s a winning strategy for a Republican House leadership race? Pathetic!”
I didn’t look very long at all the replies to Junior’s tweet, but I found this one.
“At the end of the day, Jim Banks needs his colleagues to vote for him as whip and a lot of colleagues think he’s a snake. Unless Banks can fix his problem of his colleagues not liking him, he is going to have a real issue in this race,” one anonymous Republican operative told The Daily Beast.
I’m not sure the GOP is composed of anything but reptiles.
*Real name.
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On Daily Kos’ The Brief, we speak with polling giant Drew Linzer, who runs polling firm CIVIQs and comes in to talk about a new poll his team conducted for Daily Kos. He is also here to explain, as a professional, how to not stress out every time you see a poll going your way or the other way. One thing is for sure, though: We are living in historic times, and what that means for these midterms cannot be easily predicted—so Get Out The Vote!
