Politics

GOP senator tries, fails to defend racist theory about pet-eaters

Published

1 year ago

November 12, 2024

GOP senator tries, fails to defend racist theory about pet-eaters

There were a great many low points for Donald Trump in Tuesday night’s presidential debate, but two days later, one continues to stand out. After having been triggered by Vice President Kamala Harris’ comments about his rally crowdsthe Republican thought it’d be a good idea to embrace a racist anti-immigrant conspiracy theory.

“In [Springfield, Ohio] they’re eating the dogs,” the former president said as part of a longer rant. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

In reality, of course, Trump had no idea what he was talking about. He might’ve convinced himself that the crackpot theory has merit, but it does not, and local officials have thoroughly discredited this ugly nonsense.

Nevertheless, roughly 24 hours after the debate, Sen. Bill Hagerty sat down with BLN’s Kaitlan Collins, who asked the Tennessee Republican whether his party’s presidential nominee would’ve been better off avoiding the racist theory for which there is no evidence. The senator replied:

Well, you talk about evidence. I’ve heard conflicting reports. There’s conflicting evidence. There’s a lot of information on the internet that this is happening. … The city officials aren’t the only source. There are plenty of people who are saying this is happening.

This reminded me of a story from eight years ago.

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump was speaking in Ohio when a man rushed the stage, prompting Secret Service agents to intervene. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and the incident proved inconsequential.

But the then-candidate insisted at the time that the man in question had ties to ISIS, pointing to online evidence that turned out to be false. As longtime readers might recallNBC News’ Chuck Todd asked the Republican about his willingness to substantiate odd claims with bogus evidence.

“What do I know about it?” Trump replied. “All I know is what’s on the internet.”

It was a powerful, pre-election summary of one of Trump’s most important flaws: He has no meaningful critical thinking skills, and he lacks the wherewithal to assess the reliability of random nonsense he finds online. Before, during and after his presidency, the Republican has shown that he’s not much different from that weird guy you know via Facebook who keeps sharing wild-eyed, all-caps tirades about some new conspiracy he uncovered in the fever swamps.

But just as importantly, Trump’s refrain — “All I know is what’s on the internet” — is a phrase that now summarizes how too much of the Republican Party processes current events.

For example, when a madman attacked House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer in 2022, a variety of GOP officials disseminated disinformation about the violent attack. Why? Because they saw some garbage online.

It wasn’t an isolated incident. Ask Republicans why they continue to believe ridiculous election conspiracy theories, and they’re likely to point to nonsense they found online. Ask them about their opposition to Covid vaccines, and you’ll probably get a similar response. Ask those caught up in the QAnon delusion how they slipped into the madness, and many will say the same thing.

The point is not that all online news is wrong. I publish online commentary for a living, so I’m the last person who’d encourage folks to reflexively disregard information from the internet.

Rather, the point is that major political parties and politicians seeking the public’s trust need to be able to distinguish between credible information from legitimate outlets, and sheer madness that happens to reinforce their preconceived ideas.

Republicans, in other words, not only need to choose good information over bad, they also need to understand how to choose good information over bad. As Bill Hagerty helped demonstrate, it’s a skill too much of the party seems to lack right now.

As national security attorney Bradley P. Moss lamented“The Party of Lincoln and Reagan has been reduced to ‘I saw something online.’”

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

Steve Benen

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an BLN political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”

Politics

Trump plays Texas hold ’em with Senate endorsement

Published

50 minutes ago

March 27, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

As the MAGA faithful gather for another day of CPAC in Grapevine, Texas, they are openly celebrating what they believe is tantamount to a major midterms victory: keeping President Donald Trump from endorsing John Cornyn ahead of May’s GOP Senate primary runoff.

MAGA world is taking a victory lap — and fresh comfort — in the receipts: A lack of significant spending and polling so far by not only Cornyn’s campaign, but also the NRSC and One Nation, the Senate Leadership Fund-aligned nonprofit. It amounts to a pattern the MAGA cohort reads as Washington making peace with a matchup between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, their anointed candidate, and Texas Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.

“The grassroots stood in the breach and said a resounding ‘NO’ to Cornyn,” Steve Bannon, who has framed Paxton’s bid for the nomination as a battle for MAGA’s soul, told Blue Light News. “Polling and spending indicates that the Republican DC establishment reluctantly concurs. This could be the victory that empowers MAGA through the midterms.”

Paxton, though, hasn’t rested his case. He traveled to Mar-a-Lago last Friday for a Palm Beach County GOP dinner, and was spotted speaking to Trump himself, according to three sources familiar.

Trump and Paxton were on the patio, one source added, with another saying the two discussed the runoff. “It was a positive meeting,” said yet another person. A Paxton spokesperson declined to comment on the meeting.

It’s the latest sign of a fierce and feverish effort to keep Trump from endorsing Cornyn.

Even when all signs pointed to a Cornyn endorsement following the longtime senator’s showing in the primary, MAGA faithful kept pressing for Paxton. Now they’re optimistic their guy can come out on top — and they’re still taking shots at Cornyn every chance they get.

“The Cornyn endorsement looks dead, but it’s Trump, so it’s never certain,” a person close to the White House said. “Cornyn sealed his fate by carrying Mitch [McConnell]’s water on that ridiculous gun grabbing bill. No one thought he would be dumb enough to run for reelection after that but here we are.”

Now, Trump may not give an endorsement at all. Or if he does, he may endorse Paxton after the SAVE Act debate in the Senate is over, three sources tell Blue Light News.

“Nothing is dead,” said a source familiar with the president’s thinking. “It’s all just stasis at the moment.”

“It’s looking like he may not endorse at all,” another White House official said. “But it doesn’t seem like he has made up his mind.”

But the endorsement equation in Texas amid the SAVE Act saga is still very much vexing Trump, according to five Republicans in and around the White House. The president, who will not be in attendance at this year’s CPAC, is “being patient” and “trying to exact” a policy win, another person said.

“Trump isn’t going to endorse against Cornyn while the Save America Act is still being debated,” one White House ally said. “So for now I think he stays out, but if Thune files cloture and Paxton continues to lead in every poll then I could see him endorsing Paxton. No question Paxton wins if Trump stays out though.”

Every Republican who spoke to Blue Light News cautioned that Trump could change his mind at any moment. It’s still early for the runoff, they said, with Election Day still nearly two months away. But the deadline for a candidate to drop off the ballot passed last week.

One person familiar told Blue Light News that the Senate Leadership Fund and NRSC aren’t spending in order to conserve resources. “Not cause they are throwing in the towel,” this person said.

The campaign will be spending soon, a Cornyn spokesperson said. “Ken Paxton said he needed $20M to win this primary and he’s barely raised a quarter of that,” said Cornyn campaign senior adviser Matt Mackowiak. “His professional failures and indefensible personal conduct make GOP donors and Texas primary voters deeply uncomfortable.” He added: “We have a plan to win this race and we are executing it. Ken Paxton is busy whining and hiding.”

Chris LaCivita, one of Trump’s top campaign hands who works as a senior adviser for the pro-Cornyn super PAC Texans for a Conservative Majority, said the runoff boils down to a resource equation. “The question remains the same,” LaCivita said. “Does the GOP want to spend $150-200 million holding what should be a safe seat and giving up other opportunities to gain advantage?”

Joanna Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the NRSC, said it’s “been very clear that the fight to protect President Trump’s Senate Majority should not be fought in Texas, and John Cornyn is the only candidate who ensures that does not happen.”

When it comes to money, Republicans are planning for MAGA Inc. to be “responsible for resources needed in a general election if it’s Ken Paxton,” according to two GOP operatives briefed on strategy (one cautioned that “planning is probably more hoping.”). A MAGA Inc. spokesperson declined to comment.

On the sidelines of CPAC, where bedazzled and sequined conservatives gathered for the base’s annual pep rally, the overwhelming feeling was that most Texas GOP primary voters had already made up their minds — and a Trump endorsement in either direction wouldn’t make much of a difference. Some attendees said they viewed Trump’s silence as a nudge toward Paxton.

“Texans — we’re done,” said Gregorio Heise, a Paxton supporter and Republican running for Congress in Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s Dallas district. “It’s already showing, even in the polling. Cornyn doesn’t do what Texans want, and [Paxton] does.”

On Friday night at CPAC, attendees will hear from Paxton, who’s headlining the conference’s Ronald Reagan dinner. Cornyn isn’t planning to attend.

“It’s an opportunity to be able to, you know, share your vision and basically sell yourself to the crowd, to the Texas crowd,” CPAC host and organizer Mercedes Schlapp told Blue Light News. “So Ken Paxton agreed to come, and he has a very high CPAC rating. And you know, we’ve invited Cornyn, and so we are still open. The invitation is still open for John Cornyn to come.”

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