The political party who put forward speaker nominations including a man who believes critical race theory should be “defunded” and another who described himself as Ku Klux Klan chief David Duke, but “without the baggage,” is racist, a former White House reporter contends.
Salon columnist Brian Karem Thursday compared the Grand Old Party’s “clown show” effort to elect a speaker of the House with the antics of a former U.S. President, who currently faces criminal charges in two states and the District of Columbia.
“The party is racist, misogynistic, anti-poor, elitist, delusional and greedy for power at all costs,” Karem wrote. “That also perfectly describes Trump. This is his spirit writ large, trying and failing on another grand scale.”
Karem only fleetingly references the role Trump played in choosing the House’s next speaker — his anti-Emmer screed torpedoed the moderate Republican’s chances of claiming the position — by describing Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as a “a full-on Donald Trump sycophant.”
Johnson has already been dubbed “MAGA Mike” for his efforts in trying to overturn the 2020 election, which included echoing false fraud claims and leading an amicus brief filed in Texas to overturn the results.
But for Karem, with a budget decision due on Nov. 17 whose failure could shut down the U.S. government, the problem isn’t influence so much as ideals.
“[The party] can’t govern. It can’t pass a bill. It can’t acknowledge the needs of others,” says Karem. “It is narrow-minded, cynical and overtly misanthropic, in the truest sense of that word.”