THE SHOW NOTES: Media Pushes Jihadi Disinformation, Speaker Chaos, & Surging Healthcare Premiums

Welcome! A Homeland Security worker publically praised Hamas and she still has her job.

POLL: Governor Youngkin's approval rating reached a record high. - Twitter

BIAS: Axios is literally running left-wing propaganda.

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My Take on the Race For Speaker

DID WE FORGET? In the fight against John Boehner, the original fight against Kevin McCarthy, and the fights against Mitch McConnell, every time conservatives mobilized an aggressive outside pressure campaign, it backfired. Why? Because members of Congress resent being bullied. Some, like Mike Rogers of Alabama, folded quickly. But most did not as conservatives didn’t just rally to Jordan, but bullied members to support him. This backlash has occurred every time. Some who voted for Jordan on the first ballot knew he did not have enough votes so they got cover while working behind the scenes to sabotage him.

WHY? Because as much as conservative outside groups tell the base to be nice, identify themselves as a constituent, and say “pretty please,” instead you get people who anonymously text the wives of members of Congress and threaten them. That happened to Congressman Don Bacon’s wife, among others.

WHAT NOW: I think Jordan is toast at this point. Maybe he can claw some votes back. But the reality is the outside conservative pressure campaign poisoned the well. One member told me Jordan had it in the bag till the conservative groups pissed everyone one with overkill. Conservative groups tend to rationalize it as “they were never going to vote for him anyway,” but I actually think the conservative groups that forgot all the prior lessons might should have listened this time. Instead, they’ll try to primary many of these guys and won’t be successful. Then everyone will memory hole it till the next fight. The cycle will repeat.

SO, WHO IS THE SPEAKER? Meet Patrick McHenry. At this point, he makes the most sense.

PARTING THOUGHTS: Ken Buck is a friend and I admire his stand. While I would have voted for Jordan, Buck has said some things that did need to be said. Having an election denier as Speaker would put moderate Republicans in a very difficult position. Add the wrestling scandal on top of it and Jordan would have made many of us conservatives happy, but probably been an albatross around the necks of swing district members who’d always and forever be asked both about Jordan trying to get Pence to reject the Electoral College and the wrestling scandal. We actually can’t accomplish anything from the minority, but we conservatives, being the permanent minority, often forget that. Say what you will about AOC, Ilhan Omar, etc., but unlike Matt Gaetz they know they have to be in the majority to do anything so they have an incentive to be a team player. Gaetz makes money regardless and can throw bombs from any location. Additionally, how was the Jordan whip operation that bad? They presumed they had less than ten hold outs who were persuadable. They were not expected to lose more than McCarthy lost on the first vote.

IS THAT IT? Maybe overnight Jordan pulled some his way and can make it happen. I just don’t see that it is enough and as crisis brews in the Middle East, Republicans are realizing they need someone full time in the Speaker’s Chair. I think Jordan will find Gaetz’s timing to oust McCarthy poisoned the well.  Enough Republicans believe voting for Jordan is rewarding Gaetz that they won’t do it, even if they personally like Jordan.

The Hospital

Multiple media outlets reported yesterday that Israel targeted and bombed a densely populated hospital in Gaza resulting in the deaths of 500 people. The New York Times, the Associated Press, the BBC, PBS, Reuters, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, and many more immediately adopted pro-Hamas talking points and emphatically blamed Israel.

False: Not only does US intelligence confirm that was Israel not responsible for the bombing, but the incident was a result of a malfunctioned Hamas rocket that appeared to have hit the parking lot outside of the hospital. While multiple cars were destroyed, the hospital still stands and the death toll is not remotely near 500 people. Even Joe Biden told Bibi Netanyahu the misfired attack appeared to be the work of “the other team.”

Propaganda: The New York Times published this photo when the story broke of a different destroyed building that had nothing to do with the bombing in question.

Outrage: Despite this, mass protests broke out across the Middle East that included the Jordanian President canceling his meeting with President Biden.

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