American Bridge 21st Century Weekly Recap: October 6, 2023
Our top moments of the week
House Republicans weren’t the only clowns at the GOP circus this week…
Here are our biggest moments of the week:
1. Ron DeSantis’s Culture-War Cost Taxpayers Millions
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made a big bet that attacking abortion rights, LGBTQ+ protections, and academic freedom would catapult him as a viable alternative to Donald Trump. Almost five months into his presidential campaign, it appears his gamble hasn’t worked out.
DeSantis’ top donors are turned off by his culture wars, withholding their support in the Republican primary as the Florida governor continues to slip in early state and national polling.
This week, a report from The New Republic revealed that in addition to sinking his campaign, DeSantis’ policy agenda is costing Florida taxpayers millions as his “anti-woke” laws are challenged and repeatedly defeated in court.
“DeSantis has spent more than $17 million defending his terrible laws in court since he took office. As a result, the state budget for 2023 includes a $15.8 million allotment just to defend his policies.”
2. James Craig Jumps into Michigan’s U.S. Senate Race
This week, failed gubernatorial candidate James Craig announced he is jumping into the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate — if he can file the paperwork correctly. With this announcement, Michigan joins countless other states where the GOP is dealing with bruising and expensive primaries.
As a reminder, James Craig —
- Opposes abortion, including in cases of rape and incest, and has said, “I will do whatever I can [to get rid of reproductive rights] — I’m pro-life.”
- Is a 2020 election denier who repeatedly called for an audit of the 2020 election and pushed Donald Trump’s debunked claims of election fraud.
- Opposes any gun violence solution at all, and stated that “we don’t have a gun problem in America.”
3. Russell Coleman Flip-Flops on Abortion Ban
According to a new report from the Lexington Herald-Leader, following weeks of Kentucky GOP Gubernatorial nominee Daniel Cameron flip-flopping on rape and incest exceptions for abortion, his would-be replacement and best man at his wedding, Russell Coleman, has pulled the exact same flip-flop.
Coleman previously defended Cameron’s actions in support of Kentucky’s near-total abortion ban in court, saying he was:
“Proud to have an Attorney General who defends Kentucky’s laws and values. If I have the privilege to serve in the high office, I’ll build on this great work to fight for all human life.”
4. This F*cking Guy: Trump’s SCOTUS Stripped Away Abortion Rights
On this day in 2018, Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court after being nominated by Donald Trump. Brett Kavanaugh, who has multiple sexual assault allegations against him, was nominated by Trump to repeal Roe v. Wade and allow states to completely ban abortion.
Marking the anniversary of Kavanaugh’s confirmation, American Bridge spokesperson Brandon Weathersby released the following statement:
“Thanks to Donald Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh and two other anti-choice extremist justices, people in states all over the country lost their fundamental right to reproductive health care and had to watch an alleged sexual predator be confirmed to our nation’s highest court. If he had the chance, Donald Trump would stack the U.S. Supreme Court with even more extremists who would rip our fundamental rights — like marriage equality, which they’ve made clear is next on the chopping block — away from all Americans.”
5. AB21 Pat Dennis on SiriusXM
Yesterday, American Bridge 21st Century President Pat Dennis joined SiriusXM’s The Julie Mason Show to discuss the messy GOP presidential primary and No Labels’ efforts to elect Donald Trump.
“If you were Donald Trump, just like sitting there in the basement of Mar-a-Lago next to your giant piles of stolen classified information — just imagining what you need to do to try to win this general election — like you couldn’t come up with a better idea than what No Labels is trying to do.”
