Fox Host Says GOP Congress Critters Want To Lose In November

For a while now both pundits and even some GOP types have said, or in the latter case lamented that it seems like Trump wants his Party to lose the midterms. Let’s face it – much more often than not his antics hurt the GOP’s chances more than they help. However Fox Host Laura Ingraham is saying (without invoking Trump) the problem is that it’s Republicans in Congress who secretly want to lose!

This isn’t just another Fox host talking. Ingraham starts off Fox’s weekday prime time schedule. I like to call it the Three Hour White Power lineup. Ingraham certainly has an edge to her conservatism and her rhetoric certainly often matches her tall, blonde & blue Aryan looks.  She certainly is anchored in the conservative ‘I got mine so the rest of you can go screw yourselves’ mindset prevalent in the GOP. It’s likely she assumed that with the GOP having the trifecta of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives AND a usually compliant SCOTUS Ingraham thinks by now we should have returned to feudal times – Lords and Serfs.

She certainly feels the GOP messaging machine isn’t doing its job the way she thinks it should. She’s smart and savvy and surely knows the old saying about there being three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics and knows well how to use the latter to advantage as in this article from MEDIAite. In a discussion with Larry Kudlow recent Census data was cited by both as they complained their Party isn’t doing enough to promote Trump’s economic ‘success’:

“One of the most incredible statistics is the Trump administration, in one year, has grown personal incomes more than Biden in four,” Ingraham stated, alluding to Census Bureau data released this week.

“that is correct,” kudlow replied.

“Why aren’t Republicans screaming this from the rooftops?!” Ingraham exclaimed.

Kudlow replied by saying people in trade professions such as “pipefitters, electricians, welders, carpenters [are] making close to $200,000 a year.” Ingraham responded by saying that now is the “best time ever for men without college degrees.

Remember what I said about lies and statistics? There’s nuance/context that most people hearing that stuff would overlook assuming they knew it in the first place. Biden as you know inherited an economic mess due to Trump’s mismanagement of Covid.  Also, Biden (like Obama) made Trump look like a rank amateur when it comes to job creation. Trump worshipers can say Trump was ‘hampered’ by Covid but that didn’t happen until the last year of his Presidency. But the fact is Trump sucked on this measure and Biden beat the snot out of him.

As for the data on median income keep in mind ‘median’ means average. Everyone including those who are uber rich gets factored in. When you look at household incomes and how what percentage takes in the majority makes far less than the the figure ($87k) they cited.  I can’t remember off the top of my head (I’m sure I’ll be corrected if wrong) but only 25-30 percent make even 75k and half make considerably less than that. And, as we all know Trump’s policies have caused dollars not to buy nearly as much as they did before he got a second term.

So there’s that. There’s also that part about certain trades people making ‘close to $200k per year.’ I for one would have like to see them provide objective data as to what percentage of the people in the trades they talked about are actually making that much. Again, someone correct me if I’m wrong but we don’t see anywhere near the number of new factories being build and housing start (home construction) is down in Trump’s second term.  So just where are all these people doing so much work they are pulling in that kind of money? I’m sure some are making that much and more but doubt that it’s in large numbers.

Still, Ingraham provides some stuff Republicans could claim. If they had the stones to get out and meet with constituents. Of course the reality for most people, even in red states/places is that for most of them the stuff they hear pundits and TV hosts talk about (like Ingraham and Kudlow did) must be happening somewhere else because it sure as hell isn’t happening where THEY live.

However Ingraham was on her soapbox about how great things supposedly are and complaining GOPers aren’t selling the ‘good news.’ But she wasn’t done and threw out what sure seems like flamethrower criticism of GOP Congress Critters. Granted, what she says doesn’t always translate well from 1930s Nazi dialect but it seems pretty clear to me when she said:

“a lot of Republicans” secretly want the party to lose its majority in November to relieve the GOP of the pressure to advance President Trump’s agenda.

“I actually think there are a lot of Republicans on the Hill who will be happy not to have the burden of having to pass legislation,” Ingraham said Thursday on “The Ingraham Angle.” “They’re almost going to be relieved for a little while, at least, to be in the minority.”

I find myself feeling weird because I think there might be some truth to what she says. For all their gerrymandering it remains almost certain the GOP will lose control of the House. While in the first part of the year Democrats getting control of the Senate seemed like a long shot but by summer it became clear it was more than a little possible. By the end of the summer Republicans have found themselves playing defense with quite a few more Senate seats than seemed in play back in June.

Could it be that Republicans, especially those in Congress are already looking ahead to 2028?  And also considering the possibility that since Trump is visibly deteriorating not just mentally but physically in plain view he might not live out his term?  Either way I believe most of them know when Trump’s term is up so is he. And that while MAGA will remain a force it won’t be what it once was.  Many a Republican over the years has tried to be Trump, or even ‘Trumpier than Trump’ and while it might have worked for a while at a smaller level it’s turned out to be less so when it comes to Senate seats or even Governorships for that matter.

Sitting on the sidelines (as some, looking at you Gov. Kemp of Georgia) as much as possible to avoid too much Trump Orange taint on their 2028 Presidential ambitions. Even for those not intending to run they are pals with someone who will and looking at perhaps a Cabinet appointment or perhaps a cushy Ambassadorship. IOW a couple of years of only token defense of Trump might (they hope) give them some breathing room, if only to get re-elected to their current position in 2028.

I’d keep an eye on what comes next. Ingraham might find it difficult to find a broad range of Congress Critters to interview because they want to start establishing some distance from Trump. A handful are already publicly doing so and it will be interesting to see if it becomes a trend in the weeks ahead.  For now it seems like Ingraham has pulled a pin on a political grenade and tossed it into the middle of the GOP circle-jerk.  The timing couldn’t be worse for the GOP with the midterms so close. People will have to publicly wed themselves to Trump or try to establish distance – and get raked over the coals by her and others for doing so.

At the very least it’s going to cause some infighting and without meaning to Ingraham might have created a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Stock up on popcorn folks because this could turn into one helluva GOP demolition derby

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