Among the most annoying features of the Republican Party in the Trump era is their capacity to make excuses or turn a blind eye to things President Trump has said or done.
A recent example would be when Trump told the world he was glad that Robert Mueller had died back in March. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would not condemn Trump's remarks and cited the raid on Mar-a-Lago (which did not involve Mueller) stating, “We should have a little empathy for what has been done to (Trump) and his family.” Ah yes, Robert Mueller dies but our empathy should instead be directed to Trump's family instead of Mueller's family.
However, most Republicans are content to either remain silent or claim they are unfamiliar with whatever incendiary comment Trump made at any given moment.
Unfortunately, Democrats are using the same playbook when it comes to their odious candidates in this year's mid-term elections.
In the case of Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee challenging Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins, at least one Democrat has taken a page out of Bessent's book. Ron Klain, former Chief of Staff to President Biden, claims that Platner's Nazi tattoo is, in fact, not a Nazi tattoo. Klain claims that Platner sports the tattoo to honor the fallen comrades with whom he served in Afghanistan.
Well, just as Robert Mueller isn't responsible for the Mar-a-Lago raid, Platner served in Iraq, not Afghanistan. Indeed, even Platner and his campaign have never made that claim although I'm sure they will now. Platner has been lying about the tattoo from the outset. Why would he change now? Expect more Democrats to come out and tell us the tattoo does not have a Nazi provenance.
Then you have NY Mayor Zohran Mamdani (himself an odious character) claiming he never saw the anti-American posts of DSA congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier whom he has endorsed over incumbent Adriano Espaillat. Chevalier has, among other things, called former President Biden "a rapist" and "a war criminal", declared "fuck Kamala Harris" while calling the U.S. "a fucking disgrace."
For his part, Mamdani claims "her views have evolved." But if Mamdani claims not to have any knowledge of her social media posts then how can he say her views have evolved? The answer: Mamdani is lying.
Across the Hudson River, there is Adam Hamawy, the NJ Democratic congressional candidate who has long defended the Blind Sheikh responsible for the 1993 attacks on the World Trade Center. Yet House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Gregory Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Relations Committee both feign ignorance. Jeffries says he hasn't spoken to Hamawy and that Hamawy will have to speak for himself. Well, Hamawy has spoken for himself. These are the sorts of questions the man who might very well become the next House Speaker should expect. Meanwhile, Meeks meekly said, “I don’t like to talk about somebody I don’t know, and I’ve not looked at his background or anything else of that nature.”
Not exactly a profile in courage.
Needless to say, neither Jeffries nor Meeks' statements pass the smell test. Being representatives from New York City (where the attacks happened) there is no possible way they aren't aware of Hamawy's statements.
Putting party before country is wrong and it is wrong.
It is wrong if you are a Republican making excuses for Trump
It is also wrong if you are a Democrat making excuses for a Nazi tattoo, claiming a candidate has evolved on views you claim to know nothing about or claim to be unaware of a candidate's defense of man who committed a terrorist act on U.S. soil.
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