You’re in the National Republican Congressional Committee (RNCC) and you need to find people to lead a “communication” workshop. Who better to help other Republicans navigate this brave new world than special election winner, Montana Republican Greg Gianforte. His audio work, assaulting Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs after Jacobs asked him about the CBO report on Trumpcare’s costs to Americans, is crystal clear.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has picked as the speaker for its next monthly communications workshop Greg Gianforte, the US congressman who violently attacked Guardian journalist Ben Jacobs and then tried to mislead the public and the police about it.
Gianforte’s hour-long communications session in February is titled “Hire for culture, train for skill” and invitations show a picture of the grinning politician above a brief biography that waxes lyrical about his entrepreneurial wealth but makes no reference to his conviction for assault.
Gianforte is superb at bullying, lying and refusing to follow the law; and he’s gotten away with it. These “attributes” are all essential parts of the neo-Republican skillset. Of course this isn’t that surprising when you consider the Republican party used Gianforte right after his assault as part of their fundraising campaign against Jon Ossoff in the Georgia special election. The RNCC’s job is to get the GOP seats in the House and Senate, and Gianforte is the meal, while this is the icing on the Dumpster fire they like to call “cake.”
Venturing further into the surreal, the monthly workshop is held at the National Indian Gaming Association offices in Washington and the invitation points out, specifically, that eats will be provided by Chick-fil-A, the fast-food company that made headlines in 2012 for its leadership’s anti-gay stance.
I would be surprised if I didn’t already realize that the Republican Party is bereft of … everything at this point.