Another Cartoon

It’s been one heck of a week, both on the public front, and here on the home front. It’s Friday afternoon, though, so here’s a toon about the public front from Clay Jones.

Jerk In The Box by Clay Jones

Remember, MAGAts…you voted for this Read on Substack

I’m going to use a colleague’s cartoon to point something out. Right-wing gaslighting lying fucknut Steve Kelley has a cartoon of a reporter asking White House Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre to clarify who she’s talking about when she says “the president,” Joe Biden or Donald Trump. In Steve’s defense, it’s hard to write even adequate cartoons when you’re a lying racist MAGAt.

Steve might be a little slow on his civics but the answer is President Joe Biden. How do I know this? Because for one thing, Jean-Pierre works for President Joe Biden so you would have be a real idiot to believe she’s referencing the other guy. Second, President Joe Biden is the current president. The third thing is, Donald Trump is NOT president right now no matter how hard he’s trying to destroy the nation before he’s sworn into office.

Other fucknut cartoonists may also believe Trump is the leader of our government. Look at this bullshit from Idiot One Gary Varvel and copied days later by Idiot Two Dana Summers. I don’t see how Trump sitting his fat ass at MAGA-Lardo grifting his Trump Bibles as Christmas gifts while trying to destroy the government he’ll inherit on January 20 is leadership, but whatevs.

Trump is pushing for a government shutdown, saying he’s OK with it either way. If there’s a shutdown, he’ll blame Biden even though he’s the one shitposting on Truth Social that Republicans shouldn’t cooperate with Democrats, but they should raise the debt ceiling so that he can give asshole billionaires such as himself and Elon Musk tax cuts in 2025.

Remember, Republicans hate raising the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is to cover expenses Congress has already legislated but Republicans think it’s authorizing future spending. Trump is looking at future spending and wants the ceiling raised or done away with altogether. For once, I agree with Trump and the debt ceiling should be scrapped. Republicans won’t go along with that because for them, it’s a tool to hold the nation hostage.

Elon wants a shutdown because he wants to destroy the government except for the parts of it that pay him billions of dollars in government contracts. But he’s howling for a shutdown and that’s when Trump changed his mind. Elon did invest $277 million to get Trump elected, so his stake in that orange fat ass may be higher than Putin’s. And how much does Elon expect to reap for his quarter-billion-dollar purchase?

House Speaker Mike Johnson filed a stopgap spending bill Tuesday night which went to shit after Elon went into a tweet(X) frenzy consisting of over 100 posts in one night against a deal negotiated with Democrats. The bill would have provided $100 billion in disaster aid funding, billions in farm assistance, and other assorted projects like fighting cancer in children and kept the government running.

Among Elon’s tweets were lies that the bill included a 40 percent increase in congressional pay, $3 billion for a new stadium for the Washington Commanders, funding for bioweapon labs, and protecting the Jan. 6 Committee from being investigated. Why didn’t he also tweet it would fund Critical Race Theory, Drag Queen Story Time, trans men in women’s sports and restrooms, and buffets of cats and dogs to be eaten by illegal Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio?

Here’s the thing: If you have to lie your tiny South African balls off, you’re on the wrong side of the issue. The reason creepy goons and idiots like Elon and Trump have to lie is that the truth doesn’t help them. They also know they’re lying because Google’s search engine works for Republicans too.

As of this writing, there are only about eight hours left to pass a funding bill to prevent a shutdown. Trump says the shutdown will be Biden’s problem, but the idiot doesn’t realize he’s inheriting this problem in January. Or maybe, he thinks Elon will inherit it. Just go play golf, Tiny. Elon’s got this (sic).

During his last administration (sic), Trump told Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi he’d be glad to take the blame for a shutdown. When that shutdown happened, he blamed Schumer and Pelosi and eventually negotiated a deal where he lost funding for his stupid racist wall.

Trump is as good of a negotiator as George Constanza who negotiated his and Jerry’s salary for their NBC TV pilot down from $13,000 to $8,000.

The leader of this nation until January 20, 2025, is President Joe Biden, but the leader of the Republican Party is not Donald Trump or even Mike Johnson. It’s unelected Elon Musk.

This is a preview of the next four years. Republicans are in a rush to destroy this nation and they’re starting early.

Music note: I listened to Audioslave.

Drawn in 30 seconds: (snip-click through to help him out, and watch him draw!)

Some Nancy Mace attention crying. Just realized I did not post this.

Mace Threatens To Sue Outlets Who Dispute “Assault”

JoeMyGodMod2 days ago

Had a pro-tr*ns activist rush the stage during a speaking engagement

Another stupid lie.

As anyone who saw the video here on JMG knows, said activist stood up at her seat in the audience and was instantly hustled out by security.

She never even left her row of seats.

Mace Uses Anti-Trans Slur To Attack Protesters One Day After Attending Log Cabin Quislings’ Xmas Party [Video]

Nancy Mace Is Now Selling $35 Anti-Trans T-Shirts

Enjoy having these people being forced to use the women’s restroom, according to your beliefs, dumbass.

This trans man is ready to help!

Mace wants this trans man to be forced to use the women’s public bathroom.

From the merchandise site:

It’s Nancy Mace here. The Left wants to NORMALIZE the idea of a NAKED MAN walking into our private spaces.

Nancy Mace Booed After Attacking Trans Activist

Nancy Mace Has Vile Anti-Trans Melt Down [VIDEO]

Mace Moves To Ban Trans Rep From Capitol Restrooms

Nancy Mace Once Vocally Supported Trans Rights

Trump Tributes

by Clay Jones

New Jersey drones and some MAGA ass-kissing. Read on Substack

I’ve felt sick and disgusted since November, and those feelings only increased after I read about what ABC News did. If Donald Trump sues me for doing my job, I will not cave like ABC News, and I’ll tell him to go suck a lemon (replace lemon with something else).

Trump has villainized the media and has tried to take away the credibility of the press. Trumpers believe legitimate news outlets are “fake news” while they share “news” from YouTube and repeat Trump’s lies. Back when I freelanced for CNN and I’d try to discuss an issue with a MAGAt, they’d say, “Oh, you’re with CNN. That explains a lot,” without ever telling me exactly what it explained.

Anytime a Trumper tells you a news outlet lies, they can’t cite one example. Yet, these same idiots are in a cult that worships a man who told over 30,000 in a span of four years.

And it’s not just the cultists who are kissing Trump’s ass.

Jeff Bezos is donating $1 million to Donald Trump’s inauguration. He also pulled an endorsement from The Washington Post which was for Kamala Harris. When Bezos purchased the Post, he promised he would never meddle with editorial decisions. Bezos said he’s “very optimistic” about a second Trump administration (sic) and will be meeting with the orange goon this week. What’s Bezos’ deal with kissing Trump’s ass after years of criticizing him? It’s Elon Musk.

Bezos has government contracts such as with the Post Office delivering Amazon shipments (which is why you see angry mailmen on Sundays) and through Blue Origins, his rock company (it’s the one that looks like a giant penis). Bezos has lost government contracts to Elon and his rocket company (it’s the one owned by a giant penis). How can Bezos compete when his competition is firmly entrenched up Trump’s ass. It’s why you can’t see Trump anymore without Elon by his side. He’s afraid if he goes to the toilet for one minute, he’ll find Bezos up Trump’s butt when he returns despite the fact he called dibs.

Mark Zuckerberg, who banned Trump from Facebook for a minute (along with Russian trolls until they started paying to post), is also pledging $1 million to Trump’s inauguration and said Trump’s “fight fight fight” after being nipped in the ear was “badass.” Zuck probably also thinks My Little Pony is badass. Zuck is also donating his hydrofoiling board along with his CD that contains Country Roads.

Sam Altman, the owner of OpenAI, is also pledging a million bucks to the grift and said Trump will “lead our country in the age of AI.” That’s great news actually because I hate AI and if Trump is leading it, it’s doomed. But the thing is, Sam knows this and is only saying stupid shit to kiss Trump’s ass.

There’s no word yet on all the donors but former contributors to inaugurations are keeping mum, such as Google, Walmart, Home Depot, Target, etc, but nobody seems concerned about how their money is spent and they’re probably all resigned to the fact their donations will probably be grifted.

Trump raised $107 million for his inauguration in 2017 and a lot of that money disappeared. Sure, they paid for Three Doors Down (opening shot makes me think of what Trump must look like first thing in the morning) to sing Kryptonite and there was a very fine parade of tractors (look at the crowd size), but that didn’t cost $107 million. At least $1 million of it was spent for a ball at what was then Trump’s Washington hotel, but how many more millions landed in Trump’s bank account?

Trump has refused government funding for his inauguration in order to accept private donations. He says he’s saving taxpayer’s money when the truth is, he just wants to be bribed.

The donors didn’t care what happened to the money just so long as they won Trump’s favor, but what’s even more disgusting is when the media kisses the royal rump.

Bezos kissing Trump’s ass and using the Post to do it is one disgusting thing, but then there’s ABC News giving Trump $15 million for his stupid library.

ABC News agreed to pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump. He was miffed by the way George Stephanopoulos used the term “liable for rape” to characterize a 2023 civil case in Manhattan, the one where a jury ruled that Trump, the rapist, was liable for sexual abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll, who won $83 million from Rapey Trump. The judge noted that the jury’s verdict didn’t mean Carroll failed to prove Trump, the rapist, raped her.

The bar is high for libeling a public figure and Mr. McRapey is the most public of them all. News organizations usually don’t settle these bullshit lawsuits as they have the First Amendment on their side. When they do settle, it’s usually because it’s cheaper than paying their lawyers through a long tedious lawsuit, and not for something like $15.

Fox News had to settle with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million but they were guilty as fuck and they’re not a real news organization. So why did ABC settle with a guy liable for rape?

ABC News, which is owned by Disney, settled to kiss Trump’s ass but all they did was give him more encouragement to file bullshit lawsuits. What ABC selfishly did was hurt the entire news industry, which Trump, the rapist, has called the “enemy of the American people.”

Disney should understand that they shouldn’t kiss the ring of Darth Sidious. They own Star Wars. At least Palpatine never had over two dozen women accuse him of rape and sexual assault, not even a female gundark.

Today, Trump scolded the government for not giving out more information about drones in New Jersey, but if the government knows what’s going on with Jersey drones, then Trump probably does too. Sorry to scare you like this but since he’s president-elect (sic), he’s getting daily briefings which means Vladimir Putin is getting daily briefings. Maybe the drones are delivering Big Macs to Bedminster.

Creative note: Proofer Laura asked if I intended to make a Hunger Games parallel with this cartoon. Since I’m the only person in the nation who’s never watched Hunger Games despite there being abundant nudity with dragons (I’ve been told and I hope it’s not just naked dragons), I did not intentionally make that reference, but it sounds cool the way Laura described it.

Laura told me, “In the Hunger Games the “tributes” are the people forced to fight to the death, and drones are used to deliver gifts from audience members to help the tributes survive.” What kind of drones? Dragon drones? What if they smoked the tributes? Can you say a dragon ate my homework?

Laura also said, “In the Hunger Games the gifts sent to competitors are hugely expensive and only very wealthy sponsors can afford to send them, Bezos and Musk types.” That sounds about right. The only people who won’t be eaten by a dragon over the next four years will be people like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

I wish I could send Trump a dragon. (snip)

I Think I’m Gonna Hate It Here – A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

House Republicans fumble government funding as deadline looms

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/12/16/2292176/-House-Republicans-fumble-government-funding-as-deadline-looms?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_2&pm_medium=web

Yet Johnson had the time to slam in at the last minute with no committee hearings or being addressed by the entire House an add on to the end of year must pass military budget that would block the military from granting gender affirming care to dependents of service members. If that remains it will hurt moral and hit retention. Family with trans kids will leave the military to get the care their kids need. Plus again it is based on ideology and religion, not science. Ok the link above was gotten from Ten Bears’ site, the link will be below because of how fucked up WordPress has gotten. Hugs

Less Worries …

by Oliver Willis
Daily Kos Staff

Monday, December 16, 2024 at 10:45:04a EST

Speaker Mike Johnson

Over the weekend, House Republicans once again failed to secure a deal to fund the federal government. The deadline for approving a spending bill is Dec. 20 and without its passage there could be another shutdown, which has happened before on the GOP’s watch.

Speaker Mike Johnson has been unable to get members of his own party representing farm districts to back the legislation currently being negotiated. Politico reports that Republicans planned to circulate the text of the bill among members on Sunday, but that soft deadline has passed without a solution and now leadership may reach out to Democrats for help.

Advocacy groups and lobbyists representing farming interests have been pushing Congress to include farm relief in the funding bill.

“Our country will suffer the consequences if Congress takes farmers & our food supply for granted. I call on members of Congress who represent ag to stand with farmers by insisting the supplemental spending bill include economic aid for farmers and voting it down if it doesn’t,” Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation wrote.

Ironically, one reason farms are seeking relief is that they are still dealing with the economic fallout from Donald Trump’s trade war, which led to decreased sales of U.S. farm products on the international market. Trump has proposed similar trade policies, including tariffs, for his second term despite the economic risk to millions of consumers.

While the House fumbled this key deadline, Johnson was not at the Capitol. On Saturday he instead attended the Army-Navy football game along with Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance, and Trump benefactor Elon Musk.

Since taking the House in the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans have governed in a state of almost perennial chaos. The party could not decide on a consensus speaker and then after Kevin McCarthy was selected, he was removed from power.

Because McCarthy and now Johnson have had such a hard time getting the party in line, they have had to rely on Democratic votes to pass key legislation keeping the nation funded. Even after Republicans held on to the House in the 2024 election, the margin of the party’s control will be virtually unchanged from two years ago.

The incoming administration hopes to implement many of the unpopular ideas in Project 2025 (despite Trump’s claims that he had no connection to the conservative agenda), but the party’s track record of legislative incompetence may show another path forward.

Republicans had unified control in Trump’s first two years of the presidency and the party failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) or pass an infrastructure bill (President Joe Biden did). Now they cannot even agree on a spending bill with just a few days to go.

The future, even with Republicans in control of the House, Senate, and White House, does not look bright for Johnson and his party in Congress.

Janet Brings The Numbers

Impact of Political Rhetoric on Hate Crimes Against Transgender Communities

Still At It, She Is-

Former Nancy Mace Staffer Calls Out Her BS

Ex-staffer calls bigoted Nancy Mace ‘full of sh-t’ for attack claim.

By Walter Einenkel — December 13, 2024

Rep. Nancy Mace’s former communications director isn’t buying Mace’s claims that she was attacked by a trans activist. On Tuesday night, Mace wrote that she was “physically accosted tonight on Capitol grounds over my fight to protect women.”

According to reports, James McIntyre, cofounder of the Illinois chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America, was arrested and charged with assaulting a government official after an event at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, Tuesday night. Witnesses have said that what they saw does not match Mace’s claims.

Mace posted a picture of herself wearing a sling, writing on X “Just sitting here with your run-of-the-mill gentle ‘normal handshake,’” an apparent reference to the claim that she was assaulted.

Natalie Johnson, who served as former communications director for Mace during her first year in Congress, responded to Mace’s tweet. “This is the same woman who told staff, myself included, during Jan. 6 that she wanted to get ‘punched in the face’ by a rioter so she could get on TV,” Johnson wrote. “She’s full of shit and her prop of a sling is a pathetic ploy for attention.”

According to the Washington Post, Elliot Hinkle, a foster-care advocate from Wyoming, witnessed the interaction between Mace and McIntyre.

“What we witnessed was a handshake, a passionate shake, but it didn’t look like an assault or intended aggression,” Hinkle said, referencing several people they said also saw the encounter. They said McIntyre told Mace, “Trans youth are also foster youth, and they need your support.”

Johnson has been critical of her former boss in the past. Recently, the former staffer slammed Mace after the lawmaker promoted a bill, disingenuously called “Protecting Women’s Private Spaces Act,” that bans trans women from using single-sex federally owned bathrooms. (snip-MORE)

MAGA Le Pew by Clay Jones

Now you too can smell like a MAGAt Read on Substack

Donald Trump’s latest grift is cologne which can be added to the long line of other useless crap bearing his name, like Trump sneakers, Trump watches, Trump guitars, Trump coins, Trump stock, Donald Trump Jr, etc. Like most things Trump, there are no refunds. Trump learned that with Jr. Naturally, all proceeds go directly to Donald Trump.

Trump announced the “fragrance” on his shitty social media platform with a photo of him sitting a seat away from First Lady Jill Biden. This is a sign that Trump will take credit for all of President Joe Biden’s accomplishments, just like he did with President Obama’s accomplishments. Why didn’t he put his wife in the post instead of Dr. Jill Biden? Maybe Melania already learned to sit several seats away from Donald…or is often the case, several states.

The new cologne costs $199.00 and comes in fragrances for men and women, because why should women be left out of the grifting? It’s called “Fight Fight Fight” because Trump can’t remember anything longer than three syllables. In case you’re a Republican, a syllable is a unit of pronunciation having a vowel sound that’s with or without surrounding consonants. For example, “Space Force” has two syllables. “Build the wall” is three syllables. “Cult” is one syllable. “Lock her up,” “Send them back, and “Daddy’s home,” each contain three syllables. Who knew syllables could be creepy and racist?

Trump said this cologne is a “great gift for the family,” if your family wants to wear cologne from a bottle that looks like a Pez dispenser. Yes, Trump’s head is the bottle cap, jowls and all.

So, what does the cologne smell like? The website for it doesn’t describe the odor…er, fragrance, but let’s take a few guesses. It could possibly smell like Russian hookers, Cheetos, golden showers, a Trump diaper, six-day worn tightie-whities, shitshow, dumpster fire, Stormy Daniels after 18 hours on a porn set, Ivanka, the inside of Putin’s ass, classified documents, the inside of Trump sneakers, hair spray, Big Macs, ketchup, KFC, Elon, covfefe, etc, etc.

And like most Trump merch, the cologne is a conflict of interest. Of course, America doesn’t care about corruption anymore. It’s also guaranteed to be cheaply made and ridiculously overpriced like Trump shoes, Trump watches, Trump guitars, Donald Trump Jr, etc.

I do think it’s a good idea to spray something on MAGAts so you’ll know when one is in your vicinity. My biggest concern is that the Oklahoma Department of Education will force every public school student in the state to be covered in Trump funk.

Good luck to Trump trying to sell this smelly shit to people who haven’t discovered soap yet.

On another note:

I patted myself on the back two blogs ago about my ability to produce a daily cartoon while traveling, which is HAAAAAARD. Not only did I produce a new cartoon every day on my trip, but I think created some good ones.

The cartoon I drew on the flight between Reykjavik and London made The Washington Post before I even went to sleep that night.

And I found out yesterday that not one, but TWO of the cartoons I produced during my trip were published by Newsweek Japan. How about that? Cartoons I drew in Europe were published in Asia.

It’s always fun to see your work in another language, especially Japanese since it’s so artful in text. This cartoon was drawn in London. I didn’t know the Japanese could appreciate something so dark.

This cartoon was drawn in Dublin. As Lester Burnham said in the film American Beauty, “I rule.”

Drawn in 30 seconds: (snip-MORE)

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace Calls Police on Prominent Foster Youth Advocate; Eyewitnesses Dispute Her Assault Allegations

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace Calls Police on Prominent Foster Youth Advocate; Eyewitnesses Dispute Her Assault Allegations

Remember Mace is a notorious attention hound, demanding her staff book her constantly on different media. She does any stunt she thinks will gain her attention. She made over 500 tweets in two days about a new trans member to congress and the bathroom ban she was pushing but at no time did she mention anything helping her constituents. She even sent a staffer back an hour or so later to ask the man to repeat what he said to Mace. So she clearly did not feel assaulted then. But after a time thinking how to spin it for more attention she suddenly claimed to have been badly assaulted with damage to both wrists and her arm so bad that she is parading around with her arm in a sling. What a phony. Slandering an advocate for foster youth and trans kids for clicks and views. She never grew up, she is still a high school girl chasing fame on social media. Hugs

===============================================================

Stunned onlookers say the disturbing turn of events followed a routine celebration of a landmark child welfare law

By John Kelly

This breaking news story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Aformer foster youth and award-winning advocate for children was arrested at the U.S. Capitol tonight — a bizarre twist in an otherwise celebratory day of events — after South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace accused him of assault.

The incident took place outside a House of Representatives office building following an event honoring the anniversary of a landmark child welfare law where Mace, a firebrand Republican, had given a speech. Three witnesses at the scene told The Imprint their accused colleague James McIntyre had done nothing more than shake the congress member’s hand at the House reception, and asked her to protect the rights of transgender people.

But in a post on the social media platform X, Rep. Mace described a violent confrontation.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace

“I was physically accosted at the Capitol tonight by a pro-tr*ns man. One new brace for my wrist and some ice for my arm and it’ll heal just fine,” she posted at 8:43 p.m. “The Capitol police arrested the guy. Your tr*ns violence and threats on my life will only make me double down.”

The arrest stunned onlookers.

A group of McIntyre’s fellow foster youth advocates rushed to the outside of the Rayburn House Office Building to watch the scene unfold. They stood by tearfully as he was searched for several minutes by police, asking officers where he’d be taken and calling frantically for an attorney who could represent him.

McIntyre, 33, has spoken publicly about his excruciating experience growing up in foster care, and is now a leading voice in policymaking in his home state of Illinois. He is also a chapter co-founder of the influential group Foster Care Alumni of America. In 2019, the National Association of Social Workers’ Illinois chapter named him the “Public Citizen of the Year.”

An officer with the Capitol Police Department told a reporter present at the scene that they were responding to a call about an “assault.” McIntyre was then placed into a police van and driven off.

Other attendees have reacted with outrage since McIntyre’s arrest.

“I want to express deep disappointment in the fact that Congresswoman Nancy Mace came to a national foster youth event, told participating youth that it was a safe space — and literally had one of them arrested by Capital police for simply shaking her hand and asking about trans rights,” said Lisa Dickson, a veteran advocate for foster youth from Ohio, in a Facebook post.

Mace is not new to such publicity. In recent weeks, she has been in the news for her successful campaign to bar newly elected Rep. Sarah McBride — a Democrat from Delaware who is transgender — from using the public women’s bathrooms in the U.S. Capitol.

At tonight’s event, Mace, who co-chairs Congress’ bipartisan foster care caucus, joined a group of legislators at a House reception celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999. The act created the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood, legislation that significantly expanded federal support for foster youth who leave the system after turning 18 without a permanent home.

Today’s events featured speeches from some of the former foster youth whose advocacy led to the writing and passage of the law known as the Chafee Act.

In her remarks at the House event, Rep. Mace told the crowd that while she was not an adoptee or former foster youth, she had been a victim of sexual abuse as a child. She called the dozens of advocates and foster youth in attendance — McIntyre among them — “the cream of the crop.”

“I look forward to working with each and every one of you. God bless you, I will be praying for you,” Mace said.

As she finished her comments and moved to leave the room, McIntyre approached her near an exit door, witnesses said.

Elliott Hinkle, a former foster youth and advocate for LGBTQ rights, said McIntyre shook her hand, and made a comment about how many transgender youth are in foster care, adding: “They need your support.”

“From what I saw, it was a normal handshake and interaction that I would expect any legislator to expect from anyone as a constituent,” said Hinkle, a consultant who has advised the federal government on issues affecting youth in foster care.

Later, Hinkle said, one of Mace’s aides returned to the reception and asked McIntyre his name and whether he would repeat what he had told the legislator. Two other people who witnessed the interaction confirmed that description of the brief episode.

McIntyre left the celebration, but he was later summoned back to the Rayburn Building by police.

Hinkle said his subsequent arrest “sends a chilling effect of, you’re not actually safe to go to the Capitol Hill and share an opinion that is true for you, that isn’t violent — because right now if you do, a congressperson might say that they were physically assaulted and call the police on you. So how would a young person in care feel safe?”

Michael Fitzgerald contributed to this report.

I hope everyone can see what the rabid right haters are trying to do. Not only gaslight everyone lying that a horrible assault happened and trans people are the fault and guilty party, but that the left endorses it. A woman was assaulted by a pro trans … trying to hint or make it sound like it was a trans man who did it. The log cabin people are the silliest as they claim she is a supporter of the LGBT, notice the last letter. They can not find a real attach on a woman by a trans person so now they are trying to make one up. Normal maga right dirty tricks. Hugs

https://twitter.com/NancyMace/status/1866659978108617037

https://twitter.com/LogCabinGOP/status/1866864419281703160

https://twitter.com/timburchett/status/1866858375612354813

https://twitter.com/TulsiPotus/status/1866714106981683619

https://twitter.com/holybullies/status/1866883933436330224

Very (well, somewhat) Interesting

Study: Republicans Respond to Political Polarization by Spreading Misinformation, Democrats Don’t

12.9.2024 Xiajing Zhu and Cornelia (Connie) Pechmann

Many top Republicans, including Donald Trump and Senators Tim Scott (South Carolina), Marco Rubio (Florida), and Ted Cruz (Texas), refuse to accept the 2020 election results. Many other Republicans falsely assert the 2020 election was rigged and have stated that they stood ready to fight if Trump was not declared the 2024 winner.

In a new Journal of Marketing study, we explain what underlies these Republicans’ thought processes and behaviors and how the majority of news media and social media contribute to this problem.

The Lethal Combination: Polarization and Misinformation

Our team finds that political polarization triggers Republicans, but not Democrats, to spread misinformation that is objectively false. Although Republicans may understand the content is very likely false, they are willing to spread it. We also discover the reason why Republicans respond to political polarization by conveying misinformation, while Democrats do not: Republicans strongly value their party winning over the competition. Democrats do not value winning nearly as strongly; they place more value on equity and inclusion, seeing the world in a fundamentally different way than Republicans.

In other words, whenever there is political polarization—that is, fierce competition between political parties—Republicans feel their backs are against the wall and come out swinging. They are willing to convey misinformation that is likely untrue, but not definitively false, to help their fellow Republicans win and Democrats lose. Democrats are less triggered by political polarization—they do not value their party winning over other values, so they do not respond this way.

We conducted six studies that demonstrate this. Our first study examines fact-checked statements in the news media and on social media by public figures over 10 years (2007–2016). Our second study extends this analysis to 16 years (2007–2022). We find that when there was political polarization in the news cycle, Republicans conveyed significantly more misinformation than Democrats.

We verify our findings in three online studies where we surveyed U.S. adults who identified as either Republican or Democrat. We put these individuals in politically polarized situations—for instance, we showed them Senate Republican and Democratic leaders arguing. We then showed them misinformation from current social media. For example, Republicans saw news such as “Democratic Senators are secretly pro-Russia” and “Democratic Senators are purposely manipulating gas prices,” while Democrats saw news such as “Republican Senators are secretly pro-Russia” and “Republican Senators are purposely manipulating gas prices.” In politically polarized situations, Republicans were significantly more willing to convey misinformation than Democrats to gain an advantage over the opposing party.

Our last study examines the speeches of U.S. presidents over 94 years (1929–2023), spanning the 31^st president Herbert Hoover to the 46^th president Joseph Biden. We find that in political polarized situations, such as during election periods, Republican presidents talked more about “we” and “us” than Democratic presidents, indicating they were more focused on their own party and partisanship.

To summarize, Republicans react to political polarization by putting out partisan misinformation. This can have a deleterious effect on the state of democratic institutions and processes. For instance, in the year following the 2020 U.S. presidential election and accompanying misinformation about election fraud, 400 restrictive voting bills were introduced in 47 U.S. state legislatures. Additionally, 14 states passed restrictive voting bills that, for instance, shortened the mail-in voting period, eliminated election day registration, and/or reduced ballot drop box access. These changes have decreased voter turnout and engagement, particularly among minority voters. (snip-MORE; it gets more interesting as it goes along, to me)