Tag: republicans

How MTG became MAGA’s moral compass on Gaza

This week, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene became the first in her party to call the Gaza crisis a “genocide.”

“It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct. 7 in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” the Georgia Congresswoman said on X Monday evening.

That language is newsworthy. Her stance, even more so.

As the bloodshed and chaos continues in Gaza — as does U.S. aid to Israel — the Republican Party has been primarily split into two camps. The first represents the majority of GOP lawmakers who contend that Israel’s government and military maintain the right to retaliate, virtually unconditionally, after the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas. It also supports continued and unfettered U.S. diplomatic support and military aid for that effort.

The other camp, much smaller in number in Congress but I believe is becoming more influential online and outside Washington, particularly among conservatives under 30, also condemns the Hamas attack in which 1,195 people were killed in Israel, including 736 Israeli civilians and 79 foreign nationals. But it also questions whether Israel’s government has gone too far, creating a humanitarian crisis that looks more like collective punishment of the entire Gaza population.

Voices in this camp reacted fiercely to the bombing of Gaza’s only Catholic church on July 17, killing three and wounding several others, including the priest. They also question if the U.S. should continue to fund Israeli’s war which has already caused more than 60,000 deaths, mostly civilians, including more than 18,000 children, and has destroyed or damaged 70% of civilian structures including homes, hospitals, schools and shelters.

Rep. Greene or “MTG,” has served as the tip of the spear in defining MAGA. Brash and controversial, she has been the embodiment of President Donald Trump’s movement on Capitol Hill and has had the president’s back at almost every turn.

Except, seemingly, where she perceives Trump might stray from MAGA principles. In June, Greene initially supported but then turned against the heavily Trump-promoted “Big Beautiful” spending bill. Earlier this month, she also opposed the president’s decision to continue sending aid and weapons to Ukraine.

She’s now come out swinging against Israel’s war in Gaza and U.S. support for it.

“I can unequivocally say that what happened to innocent people in Israel on Oct 7th was horrific,” Greene posted on X on July 27. “Just as I can unequivocally say that what has been happening to innocent people and children in Gaza is horrific.”

“This war and humanitarian crisis must end!” she added.

When Greene introduced an amendment to stop U.S. weapons aid to Israel, she criticized Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or “AOC” for voting against it.

“AOC, the darling of the progressive left, the one that claims to be against all the wars and wants to lead…did not vote for my amendment. She would not do it and she got called out hard.” (Progressive Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib did vote with Greene in support of this legislation, as did her colleague Rep. Ilhan Omar). Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, the only other Republican on the Hill who has been as vocal a critic of Israel in Gaza as Greene, also voted with her. He was the only Republican to do so.

Harshly criticizing AOC, whether the Congresswoman is essentially right or wrong, is a typical thing for MAGA to do. But what Greene did next was even more interesting.

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GOP Sen Markwayne Mullin violated Stock Act, failed to report hundred of thousands in trades

Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin has filed a disclosure with the Senate that shows he failed to properly disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock trades on time.

The disclosure filed Wednesday shows he was two-and-a-half years late on reporting seven stock purchases by his wife and about one-and-a-half years late disclosing three Oklahoma-connected municipal security purchases for himself, according to the news outlet NOTUS.

The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or STOCK Act, requires Congress members to disclose any stock, bond, or cryptocurrency trade made by themselves, spouse, or dependent child within 45 days.

“Much like tax returns, financial disclosures occasionally need to be amended to reflect the most accurate, up-to-date information. That’s what we did here,” a Mullin spokesperson told NOTUS.

The spokesperson also said the senator uses an independent, third-party operator firm that manages all stock portfolio investments on his behalf and that he neither conducts nor informs trades. 

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Pro-life Texas GOP lawmaker admits affair with stripper who accused him of paying for ABORTIONS

A pro-life Texas representative has admitted to having an affair with a stripper after she accused him of paying for abortions.

State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, 52, confessed to having an affair ‘years ago’ after a woman alleged he paid for ‘meetups’ and ‘funded several abortions for his own personal gain,’ reported The Texas Tribune.

The woman, named Alex Grace, came forward with the affair on Friday during an interview with the Current Revolt.

‘I know that Giovannie Capriglione has been having affairs since 2005 because it’s me. I’m her. I’m not proud of it, in fact I’m ashamed of it,’ Grace said on TikTok after the interview came out.

‘Hopefully, you can keep in mind that we all have a past and I wish I could say for him that that was the worst of it, but it’s not.’

Capriglione dropped out of his reelection race just days before Grace’s interview, but has denied paying for any abortions and said he will pursue ‘legal remedies’ over her claims.

‘Years ago, I selfishly had an affair. I’m not proud of this. Thank God my wife and family forgave me, and we moved past it and have the strong marriage we do today,’ he said in a statement.

‘The rest is categorically false and easily disproven… I have never, nor would I ever, pay for an abortion.’

Capriglione promotes himself as a ‘pro-life champion’ with a ‘100 percent pro-life voting record’ on his campaign website.

‘Giovanni voted to defund Planned Parenthood and authored the Abortion Trigger Ban Bill, which banned abortion in Texas when Roe v. Wade was overturned.’ 

Grace claimed she met Capriglione when she was just 18-years-old and worked as an exotic dancer in 2004.

‘We became close friends. He was magnetizing. He was outwardly genuine and kind,’ she said.

‘He was the one who reminded me to keep my head up. He was the one that encouraged me. He pushed me to succeed more in life.’

Grace described one incident where Capriglione made her receive cash from him at a Chuck E. Cheese.

‘He told me to go to the back of the building and next to the dumpster there would be a rubber mat. And under this rubber mat was an envelope with money,’ she said.

She said they drifted apart after he was elected in 2012, and she claimed she has tried to reach out to him to discuss his political stances.

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Oklahoma’s Trump-Loving, Bible-Thumping Superintendent Faces Porn Probe

An investigation is underway in Oklahoma after a television screen in the MAGA state school superintendent’s office reportedly showed a video of nude women during an executive session of the State Board of Education on Thursday. 

The images reportedly appeared on a screen in the office of Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s far-right Superintendent of Public Instruction. Walters previously told schools to teach the Bible and Ten Commandments, demanded students watch him pray for Donald Trump, and named transphobe Chaya Raichik to a state education committee. He also tried to use state money to purchase bibles for classrooms that matched the specifics of those marketed by the president and his family.

As you might expect, Walters has led a crusade against “pornography” in school libraries. 

Two members of the Oklahoma board of education said they were shocked at what they saw on the screen on Thursday. 

“I was like, ‘Those are naked women,’” board member Becky Carson told The Oklahoman. “And then I was like, ‘No, wait a minute. Those aren’t naked, surely those aren’t naked women. Something is playing a trick on my eye. Maybe they just have on tan body suits. … This is just really bizarre.’”

“I saw them just walking across the screen, and I’m like, ‘no.” I’m sorry I even have to use this language, but I’m like, ‘Those are her nipples.’ And then I’m like, ‘That’s pubic hair.’ What in the world am I watching? I didn’t watch a second longer.”

Carson told Walters to turn the video off. 

“I was so disturbed by it, that I was like — very loudly and boastfully, like I was a parent or a teacher — I said, ‘What is on your TV? What am I watching?’ He was like, ‘What? What are you talking about?’ He stood up and saw it. He made acknowledgment that he saw it,” Carson said, according to NonDoc Media, an Oklahoma news website.  “And I said, ‘Turn it off. Now.’ And he was like, ‘What is this? What is this?’ So he acknowledged it was inappropriate just by those words. And he was like, ‘I can’t get it to turn off. I can’t figure out how to turn it off.’ And I said, ‘Get it turned off.’ So he finally got it turned off, and that was the end of it. He didn’t address it. He didn’t apologize. Nothing was said.”

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Trump Derangement Syndrome Isn’t Just a Pejorative Term Anymore

A pair of Republican representatives is pushing Congress to address one of the most serious domestic issues of our time. What started out as a joke – a slur, of sorts – has become a very real public mental health crisis. Since late 2016, Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) has spread as swiftly as COVID-19 and could, for most of the infected, be more debilitating. And it’s no longer just a humorous dig at leftists – especially after two attempts on President Donald Trump’s life. Back in May, Reps. Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Barry Moore (R-AL) released statements on the introduction of the Trump Derangement Syndrome Research Act of 2025. This was not an epic prank. The congressmen want the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH) to study the disorder.

The late Charles Krauthammer, a political writer and pundit but a psychiatrist by training, coined the term “Bush derangement syndrome” in 2003. Leftists certainly displayed a visceral hatred of then-President George W. Bush, though it did not push them to adopt extreme and often irrational positions, as Trump Derangement Syndrome does.

Diagnosing Trump Derangement Syndrome

Anti-Trump journalist Fareed Zakaria once described TDS as “hatred of President Trump so intense that it impairs people’s judgment.” He wasn’t wrong. Personality disorders – what some clinical psychologists would collectively call sociopathy – affect the way the afflicted view themselves, their fellow human beings, and everyone’s place in the world. Emotions are governed by these disorders.

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Why Do Republican Lawmakers Keep Trying To Overturn Marijuana Laws Approved By Voters?

Elections have consequences. Or so we’re told. But when it comes to respecting the outcomes of marijuana-related votes, Republican lawmakers are increasingly saying, “Not so fast.”

A case in point: Following Nebraskans’ decision to legalize medical cannabis access this past fall, Republican state Attorney General Mike Hilgers urged lawmakers to ignore the voter-approved law. Months later, a regulatory commission appointed by Republican Gov. Jim Pillen enacted “emergency rules” largely gutting the nascent program, despite over two-thirds of Nebraskans having voted for it.

Nebraska’s situation is hardly unique. In Texas, Republican AG Ken Paxton single-handedly pushed litigation striking down voter-approved marijuana depenalization ordinances in Austin, Dallas, San Marcos and other cities. All of the ordinances, which sought to limit local police from making low-level marijuana possession arrests, had been overwhelmingly approved by municipal voters.

In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation this spring that makes it harder for advocates to place policy questions on the ballot. He did so after last year’s marijuana legalization initiative gained 56 percent of the vote, just shy of the state’s mandatory 60 percent threshold.

Lawmakers in the Republican-dominated legislature further turned their backs on voters by rejecting numerous pieces of cannabis reform legislation this spring. In fact, the only marijuana-related bill approved by Florida lawmakers this year was legislation denying medical cannabis access to those with certain marijuana or other drug-related convictions on their record.

In Ohio, GOP leaders have spent the better part of the past two years seeking to repeal elements of the state’s 2023 voter-approved adult-use legalization law. These efforts include bills to recriminalize marijuana possession, rescind adults’ home cultivation rights and arbitrarily cap the total number of cannabis retail outlets permitted statewide. Thus far, none of this legislation has been successful, but at least two separate roll-back bills remain pending and are anticipated to be revisited by lawmakers this fall. (Separately, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine sought to double the special sales tax on cannabis products. While that effort also failed, lawmakers did approve a budget bill restructuring the way cannabis-related taxes are spent.)

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Two Florida Republican representatives push federal bill allowing illegal aliens to legally work

Joined by a group of nine additional Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida is spearheading a federal legislative effort to allow some illegal aliens to remain in the country and work legally for years.

Titled “DIGNITY Act,” the bill allows illegal aliens, which Salazar describes as “undocumented immigrants,” to remain and work in the country who have been here since before 2021.

In order to qualify, they must pass a criminal background check, pay $1,000 per year over seven years in restitution, can receive no federal benefits or entitlements, and have no pathway to citizenship. That process is referred to as the “Dignity Program.”

“Millions have lived in the shadows for decades with no legal path,” the bill’s information pager states. “Deportation of long-term workers would cripple key industries.”

“For 40 years, every president and Congress has looked the other way while millions have lived here illegally, many working in key industries that keep our economy running,” Salazar said. “It’s the Achilles’ heel no one wants to fix. The Dignity Act offers a commonsense solution: certain undocumented immigrants can earn legal status, not citizenship, by working, paying taxes, and contributing to our country. No handouts. No shortcuts. Just accountability and a path to stability for our economy and our future.”

On top of the Dignity Program, the bill’s sponsors say it requires “complete operational control” of the southern border, requires enhanced physical barriers, deploys improved technology to the border, requires nationwide E-Verify, hikes penalties for illegal border crossers, requires DNA testing for family verification, and more.

The bill sponsors say it also ends the practice of “catch-and-release,” expedites asylum processing, and hikes penalties for asylum fraud.

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Rep. Salazar’s Bill Would Hand Out Amnesty In Exchange For Penalties Illegal Aliens Will Never Pay

Here’s a deal for Republican Rep. Maria Salazar: If her proposed immigration bill passes, she has to personally cover the cost for every illegal alien who doesn’t voluntarily pay the laughable $7,000 “restitution” she’s offering them in exchange for amnesty. Oh, and they all need to move to her district.

Salazar has been on cable news all week promoting her “Dignity Act,” which would give illegal aliens protection to stay in the United States if they, among other things, pay the paltry sum over the course of seven years. That’s how little Salazar thinks of her fellow Americans: Lawbreakers who barged into the country uninvited get to live with us in exchange for a few thousand dollars that there is no reason to believe a single one of them would ever pay.

Why would they? They’ve been living here all along with no penalty at all. But she expects them to pay something now? Salazar should go play in traffic.

At the risk of giving Salazar’s trash bill the dignity of considering it at all, it’s ridiculous to assume that people who break the law every single day by being here would instantly become sticklers for rules. Salazar either doesn’t know how this works or she doesn’t care.

All migrants who illegally enter the U.S. have a simple thought process: They know they’re not supposed to do it, but breaking the law and evading deportation is worth the risk. Each day they have that same thought.

Here’s what would happen if they were mandated to pay $7,000: Many of them, probably most, would continue to have that same thought. They wouldn’t pay, and it would be worth the risk.

And then what? The same thought process starts all over again. They’re here illegally, they know they shouldn’t be, and it’s worth the risk.

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New GOP-Backed Amnesty Bill Is A Gift To Dems And A Middle Finger To Voters

The release — or lack thereof — of the Epstein Files has consumed most of MAGA’s attention in recent days. But there’s something far more dangerous that deserves the full force of MAGA’s attention: a cadre of so-called Republicans is working to foist a mass amnesty program on the American people.

Florida Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar reintroduced the DIGNITY Act on Tuesday, which, according to a press release from her office, “allows certain long-term undocumented immigrants to earn legal status, without amnesty or a path to citizenship” so that illegal aliens who broke the law can have an “opportunity.” The bill would create a “7-year earned legal status program allowing” illegal aliens “to live and work legally, with renewable status based on good conduct and restitution.”

“The legislation acknowledges a key truth: most undocumented individuals are not seeking citizenship at all costs, but rather the dignity of living and working legally, contributing to society, paying taxes, being safe from deportation, and traveling to see family during the holidays,” Salazar’s press release declares.

But no one deserves to be rewarded for violating our sovereign borders simply because they want to “pay taxes” and “work.” When Republicans dress up mass amnesty as “dignity,” they’re falling into the left’s trap — the lie that empathy must override the rule of law. It’s the same emotional blackmail we see time and time again that demands the American people legalize the presence of illegal aliens because they’ve found the rules too inconvenient to follow.

And conservatives should remember this is not the first time Republicans have been seduced by the false promise of compassionate amnesty. Ronald Reagan’s 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act was sold as a one-time fix — amnesty for nearly three million illegal aliens in exchange for real, long-lasting border security. The amnesty happened. The border security evidently did not. Reagan’s mistake was that he ceded an inch to people who have no intention of ever stopping there. His decision to grant mass amnesty signaled to Democrats that with enough grandstanding, they could get their way.

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House Republicans Block Democrat-Led Effort to Force Release of Epstein Files to the Public — Here Are the Five Republicans Who Voted Against Transparency

In a jaw-dropping move late Monday, House Republicans once again slammed the door shut on transparency, voting 7‑5 in the Rules Committee to block Rep. Ro Khanna’s amendment that would have forced Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice to publish all Epstein‑related files publicly.

Last week, Rep. Ro Khanna (D‑CA) announced he will introduce an amendment on Tuesday, forcing a House vote to release the full trove of Epstein-related files to the public.

The same party that spent years stonewalling investigations, blocking the release of Epstein’s client list, and downplaying his vast connections to the global elite is now suddenly pretending to care about transparency.

Jeffrey Epstein was a monster, but his real ties were to the Democrat elite. Bill Clinton flew on Epstein’s Lolita Express at least 26 times, rubbing elbows with the pedophile financier while jet-setting around the world.

“Why are the Epstein files still hidden? Who are the rich & powerful being protected?” Khanna wrote on Saturday.

“On Tuesday, I’m introducing an amendment to force a vote demanding the FULL Epstein files be released to the public. The Speaker must call a vote & put every Congress member on record.”

He continued, “Will the House allow a vote on Tuesday on the Khanna Amendment demanding the full release of the Epstein files?”

In a 7–5 late-night Monday vote, House Republicans on the Rules Committee shut down a Democratic-led amendment spearheaded by Rep. Ro Khanna (D‑CA).

The measure would have forced Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice to publish all Jeffrey Epstein–related documents—including flight logs, communications, and purported client lists—on a publicly accessible website within 30 days.

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