GOP Aide Admits To Journalist Why They're Letting People Die

[babylonsister]

https://crooksandliars.com/2021/08/gop-aide-tells-journalist-why-republicans


GOP Aide Admits To Journalist Why They're Letting People Die
Yes, it really is a strategy.
By Susie Madrak


Yesterday, Ari Melber was talking about the Republicans, calling them a "January 6th-adjacent party."

"I will read you something that Gene Robinson was writing. He argues that too many Republicans were taking covid's side literally in the pandemic, creating an environment killing Americans who shouldn't have to die. Republican DeSantis transparently positioning himself as a contender for 2024, and if Floridians die along the way, so be it.'

"Gene is a serious Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, that's pretty harsh coming from him. Do you think that's fair, or too far?" he asked journalist Julia Ioffe.

"I think it is very fair, Abbott and DeSantis positioning themselves for 2024," she said.

"You saw DeSantis' wife, she said, 'Oh, it is so great, my husband is a great dad just like Trump and he has the same hand motion as Trump. It's so obvious that he's positioning himself just like Trump."

But here's the part that every Democratis candidate should be using in ads, starting right this minute.

"About a month ago, I was talking to a pretty senior Hill aide on the Republican side. Vaccinated, everybody in his shop was vaccinated. I said, 'What is the deal, why are you doing is this? It's your own constituency you're killing.'

"And he said they just want to make Biden look bad. They want the crisis to happen on Biden's watch so that he does not get the credit for the vaccine that they felt Trump should get the credit for. That's it. I mean, my jaw hit the floor and I had to work to get it back up."

I can't say I'm surprised, exactly. After all, it's really the only explanation that fits the facts. But that our national politics have degraded to the point where Republicans actually believe mass murder is a legitimate campaign strategy?

[Wounded Bear]

1. Anybody who is surprised has not been paying attention...

[OldBaldy1701E]

17. HEAR HEAR!

[hot2na]

34. This

Of course it's all about making Biden look bad.

[Red Pest]

40. To quote Claude Rains in "Casablanca":

"I'm shocked to find out that gambling is going on!" In this case - gambling with people's lives.

[AZ8theist]

44. SHOCKED!!

[brush]

57. Guess they figure they can lose so many thousands of their own voters...

in '22 and still have enough to win back House and Senate majorities...just as long as it looks like Biden bungled the vaccine deployment.

What's a 100k or so magat voters, there's more where they came from, what with redistricting coming up.

[2Gingersnaps]

90. Absolutely! Straight from the horses asses' mouth....

"Could you imagine if this had happened on my watch?" Of course we can imagine you bastard, it did!!

[Bluethroughu]

114. 100%

[Ohio Joe]

2. K & R - nt

[machoneman]

3. Sure, I knew as others do that it's all about owning the libs and denying Biden any wins.

Death on a pogo stick in red states. They do not care.

[FakeNoose]

4. The crisis already happened - and it was on Chump's watch, not Biden's

What is wrong with these journalists?

Why do they let these Repukes get away with their LIES, every single time?

[PatSeg]

29. Yes, but people have very short memories

and are easily manipulated by politicians and the media. It is hard to understand how so many journalists let republicans get away with, in this case, mass murder.

[Demsrule86]

54. But I think they are making a mistake Clearly, this is the fault of red state governors and

Republicans ... polls indicate , they are being blamed.

[PatSeg]

61. Yes, I think they overplayed their hand

They watched Donald Trump get away with so much for so long, they naively thought they could replicate his success. Eventually people do start to wake up especially when they see people dying around them.

[bdamomma]

97. If they

see their own family members dying, will that wake them up?? They believe Fox noise and perpetuating an onslaught of propaganda. Very sad.

[PatSeg]

100. I think some will

but others may still be in denial. It took years of brainwashing to get to this point. It won't be undone easily.

[bdamomma]

106. I agree

it won't be undone easily. I guess that saying "propaganda works" holds true. SMH.

[dianaredwing]

84. Not short, selective

They have no problem remembering Hilary's emails or Obama's tan suit or any number of other equally innocuous 'horror stories.'

[PatSeg]

101. Very selective indeed

Whatever reinforces their belief system.

[certainot]

113. it's the incredible collective stupidity of ignoring talk radio

democrats and progressives ignore rw radio so much it's never even mentioned. the journos, producerss, analysts etc live in cities and have no clue that rw radio has been the major propaganda operation the last 30 years

media and political analysts might as well be studying fish without water, the biggest political mistake in history.
at the same time it's a huge opportunity for liberals to go on the offensive

[lagomorph777]

5. They aren't "January 6th adjacent". They are the Insurrection Party, the COVID Party, ...

simply put, the Murder Party.

[Botany]

6. "And he said they just want to make Biden look bad."

How sick are these mother fuckers? They are OK with people getting sick and or dying and the disease
spreading because they think it works out for their brutal political calculus. In a just world the republican
party should be dead.

[TheRealNorth]

12. It's definitely something a psychopath would do.

[Botany]

80. DeSantis is not stupid he has an undergrad degree from Yale and his J.D. is from Harvard Law.

He knows what he is doing is killing people, allowing the virus to make 10s of thousands people sick,
giving people lifetime chronic medical problems post corona, and giving the virus humans in which it can
grow and mutate so it can keep going. He knows facts like Vietnam has 90 million people and is a lot
closer to China then we are but they used masks and had something like a total of 35 deaths. (I don't
know the figures now)

[PatSeg]

41. The quest for power

often overrides any reasonable morality. With so many politicians, it is an addiction and like any hardcore addicts, they will do anything for their fix, even if it costs people's lives. It is a classic "selling one's soul to the devil" story and apparently these fools are rooting for the devil.

[Botany]

81. I can only hope that dynamics of our changing demographics force these fuckers* out of power but ...

... they will not go without a fight hence the gerrymandering, court packing, media domination, and
straight up election rigging in order to keep power.


* back in the day America had some wonderful people who were Republicans but those people are
long gone. Ignorance of science and facts along with just out and out bigotry/sexism have become
the norm.

[electric_blue68]

91. THIS and...

Waaaay back before I could vote (especially before
lowering the voting age in '71) I volunteered campaign wise for 2 Liberal Republicans in NYC -

•Charles Goodel (yes, that sports guy's dad)

•Mayor John V Lindsey (re-election)

👍

[Botany]

93. Ray Shafer .... Gov. of PA

Our next door neighbor in a middle class neighborhood in N.W. PA was County D.A. and his
brother Ray was governor. You will never find a better person and he was a republican too.

[CTyankee]

108. I remember how dashingly handsome John Lindsey was and how white NY republicans HATED him.

He had represented the Silk Stockings district in NYC when he was in Congress, IIRC. A Yalie, undergrad and Law School.

What do you remember about him?

[PatSeg]

99. Yes, their primary focus is always on "winning"

They lose sight of any other goals they may have had.

I remember reasonable, principled republicans as well. That is an endangered species, if not extinct already.

[ShazzieB]

70. If only the Republican Party would just DIE already! 😡

As a political party, I mean. (Unlike Republican politicians, I have no desire to actually kill off human beings.)

I keep reading that the GOP is "shattered," "crumbling," "dead," etc., etc. But it's obviously still very much here, throwing wrenches in bills Democrats are trying to pass in Congress, working feverishly in state legislatures to enact voter suppression laws, sitting in red state governors' mansions issuing edicts against things like mask mandates that might actually help stop the spread of covid, and on and on. It's become nothing but a force for authoritarianism, death, and evil, a real life troll blocking the bridges to progress that Democrats are trying to erect, and I am sick of it, especially when I remmad an article like this one.

The problem isn't that the GOP is dead. The problem is that it's taking way too damned long to die, and it's trying to take our democracy with it!

[Captain Zero]

75. Lots of their voters are dying

My.

[dianaredwing]

85. Actually you have to admit

This is the hardest most Republicans have ever had to work. They'll tire of it soon enough and find some other way to cheat themselves into power that uses less energy.

[Maraya1969]

7. I thought about that about a week ago when one of Biden's polls went down and they

attributed it to Covid. It's hard to believe but I think it is all true.

[chia]

8. The GOP death strategy is backfiring because the backlash against the unvaxxed is growing

[Hugin]

10. +1

They didn't think this through. However, thinking is foreign to them.

[sop]

48. Other than a pack of drooling imbeciles, suffering from some sort of Trumpian mass psychosis,

who would possibly be convinced that any of this anti-vaxxer belligerence is Joe Biden's responsibility? One would have to be a 24/7 FOX News/Newsmax/OANN zombie to fall for this GOP con job. The majority of Americans know who's responsible for this Covid resurgence.

[agingdem]

62. that's right...

four years of the New York Times/Washington Post devoting yards of print space to "understanding the Trump voter"...they were, after all, just like the rest of us: hardworking patriotic Americans ...not the self-righteous "keep America white" gun-loving, xenophobic, overtly racist, Jew/Hispanic/Muslim/Black/Native American/Asian American hating assholes that they really were/are...and now we're expected to understand the "fucking libs/ civil liberties" maskless covid-spewing anti-vaccine assholes with something akin to compassion?...THEY ARE KILLING OUR CHILDREN...ENOUGH!

[Arazi]

9. This will backfire. The vaccine is plentiful and easy to get

The people who are dying now are those who are actively refusing to vaccinate and they're wearing the anti-Biden, "freedom" flag loud and proud.

This can't be re-framed as a Biden disaster when Republicans are actively promoting anti-masking, no social distancing, full attendance at work, school, church etc.

I absolutely believe they're willing to let people die. It's a death cult but they won't be able to spin this as Biden's fault when so many are dying to own the libs, literally.

[Tommymac]

25. Not a Death Cult - a MURDER Cult.

They don't want to de.

They want to kill. Deep down they enjoy killing. Along with all the sexual/societal perversions and toxic racism they harbor in their dark little hearts and souls they are not good people - they only care about themselves.

It's all out in the open - the MSM in general (with a few exceptions) is not going to connect all the dots - that is up to reasonable, good people to do.

[peggysue2]

11. Remember that Death Star strategy?

It's become a reality for Republicans. Only it's turned on itself and MAGA supporters. Down here in eastern TN, across 19 regional hospitals, there are only a handful of ICU beds available. The majority are filled with Covid-19 patients, 99% of whom are/were unvaccinated. The infection rate and death toll is rising. The truly tragic cases are children, those who could not receive the vaccine (under 12) or those whose parents refused to have them vaccinated.

The Republican Party has decided the infections and deaths are acceptable as long as they wound Joe Biden, strip him of his vaccination success which they believe rightly belongs to their cult leader, Donald Trump.

Doctors and nurses are being stressed. Hospitals are filled to capacity and God forbid you're unlucky enough to need heavy duty care for accident, stroke, heart, cancer and/or a multitude of ailments.

Republicans are killing the innocent along with the irresponsible.

Because . . . THEY DON'T CARE about anything but winning and worshipping at the feet of a madman.

God help us!

[Duppers]

38. It's Jim Jones on a mass scale.

They're drinking the koolaid.

[peggysue2]

46. Yup. Drinking the Koolaid and . . .

Begging for more so that the death and damage is as massive as possible.

Beyond belief but it's happening. God knows where it will end.

[bdamomma]

98. and children

are now part of their plan. Covid victims are getting younger.

[colorado_ufo]

47. This.

[Baitball Blogger]

13. They want Biden to look bad? Well, it's backfiring on them.

Last edited Fri Aug 13, 2021, 02:39 PM - Edit history (1)

Statistics don't lie. It's the Republican Governors who are interfering with the recovery. It's their states that are going through the roof with Covid cases. Everyone knows who is at fault.

But, yes, completely feel that these unChristian, ruffian tactics are being used by Republicans. It's so over-simplified, lacking in science and forethought that it absolutely sounds like them.

[JHB]

79. Conservative/RW media DOES lie, so it's not sure-fire that...

...everyone knows who is at fault.

[smirkymonkey]

111. Exactly! Typical idiotic right-wing "reasoning".

"Hey, let's kill off our own constituents in our own states via the policies of our own Republican lawmakers to make Biden and the Democrats look bad! That'll show 'em!"

I honestly don't get how this is supposed to work for them. Anyone who would blame Biden for this wouldn't vote for a Democrat anyway and anyone who isn't stupid enough to see exactly what is going on here is not going to vote for a Republican.

Besides, I think a lot of independents and people who aren't even all that political have effing had it with the right-wing idiocy and stubbornness about this virus as they continue to spread it and make things worse for everyone else, particularly healthcare workers who are at the end of their rope with this seemingly never-ending nightmare.

They aren't just evil to the core, they are also astonishingly stupid. The fact that they think this is a good strategy tells you all you need to know about them.

[treestar]

14. That means that Republicans arrogantly conclude

they can say inconsistent things and still get votes. They can be against the vaccine but the convince the voters that it is the Democrats' fault if people get Covid.

[peppertree]

18. Always

The '22 Repug strategy, is to do everything possible to raise the death toll to 1,000,000 - and then start caterwauling non-stop about how "Biden failed us!"

And the dead?

You make an omelet, you break a few eggs.

[zorbasd]

55. Yes, and yes...they truly believe they can do that -convince voters- with the

massive disinformation media/social media(Facebook, talk radio, OANN, Newsmax, Fox, etc) they have on their side across the country. They've done it before successfully many of times, and they can succeed here as well. That is why they are so cocky, they know they can with their big lies.

[Nay]

105. Well, it's certainly worked so far. They've gotten their dupes to actually believe in

total fantasies.

[Corgigal]

15. They would have preferred

a genocide for our side, but Trump lost.

So they will cult it for their side. Bat ass crazy.

[Dave in VA]

16. Do they consider these victims

to be collateral damage or resulting from friendly fire?

Just asking.

[Major Nikon]

19. Small price to pay for owning the libs

[lindysalsagal]

20. Anybody here have a credibility rank for Susie Madrak

(Assuming there is such a person and that's actually her name?)

[Inkey]

66. I have read her blog since

since 2006. Suburban Guerilla. She has been
around for quite some time. She has also been a
writer for Crooks and Liars for over a decade.
She has made a lot of contacts over the years.
I have found her perspective interesting .

[Old Crank]

21. Did DeathSantis's wife

Just call him a pussy grabber????

He has the same hand motion as Trump.....

[Upthevibe]

22. Kick....n/t

[ZonkerHarris]

23. If they are willing to kill their own voters in an attempt to make Biden look bad then I am too.

I'm willing to let as many Republicans die as it takes.

[KS Toronado]

42. I'm with you

[Cracklin Charlie]

24. They're all invested in the drugs to treat covid.

So, Biden looks bad, and they make bank.

Win/win for only them. The Republican way.

[Tree Lady]

26. It makes sense in a evil twisted way for them

After Biden said what he did about us going back to do things on July 4th its almost like they got together and said let's do everything we can to screw that up and make it not happen so people will be mad at him.

They know all of us are tired of staying home and wearing masks and they are raking the coals of that anger and frustration.

[kacekwl]

27. What child wants to be trump

when they grow up. Now we know.

[sarchasm]

28. So if this is true ...

… and don’t get me wrong, I believe it is, shouldn’t we be worried about this infrastructure bill?

[aocommunalpunch]

30. LMAO

Ask that question to ANYONE who calls Republicans “friends”, “colleagues”, or “respected”. I certainly fucking don’t. Stop legitimizing people that want to destroy you.

[pandr32]

31. If Abbot and DeSantis are posturing to run for the 2024 Repug nomination

There are showing us exactly what kind of presidents they would make. Frightening.

[Skittles]

92. yes, they are not a threat to Democrats

they are a threat to AMERICA

[cstanleytech]

32. Republicans have used mass murder before as a campaign strategy. Just look at the invasion of Iraq

for example and before the COVID virus they were trying to setup Iran and N. Korea as the next one.

[Orrex]

33. Obviously true, but easily dismissed as hearsay and "fake news"

Trump the daughterfucker could announce this. Plan explicitly on live tv, and the fuckhead cultists would still worship him.

We should stop hoping for a “last straw” moment with the cultists, because there will never be one.

[maxsolomon]

35. This is nothing new.

All political decisions are viewed through the lens of how it will be spun on Fox. Short-term strategy always, party before country.

It's a miracle a watered-down Infrastructure bill made it through the Senate.

[IronLionZion]

36. They're using the Jonestown strategy to own the libs

and will lose voters in the process. Seems like a suicide mission. As if people don't notice the regional nature of the outcomes now.

[maxsolomon]

56. There will still be enough Republicans left to keep

LA, AR, TN, AL, MS, etc.

[IronLionZion]

59. They can keep it

The pandemic is worst in conservative counties in big swing states like Florida, Georgia, Texas, Missouri. DeSantis might even lose reelection for governor.

[ananda]

37. They are maniacally insane.

Period

[Blasphemer]

39. In addition to being immoral, it is an idiotic strategy

As pointed out upthread, the vaccine is readily available and Biden has helped put in place the infrastructure to make that happen. Additionally, Biden will not be blamed when idiotic GOP governors refuse to follow federal guidelines and advice and kill off their own constituents. Especially when blue states are faring better. Not to mention, swing voters, particularly suburban women, are not going to be moved by this asinine strategy. If anything, they are helping the Dems.

[AncientOfDays]

43. unproven treatment

Now Florida is deploying "strike teams" with unproven treatments for COVID. DeSantis wants to appear the knight in shining armor -- Get real sick, blame Biden, DeSantis brings cure, worship him.

But first you have to get real sick, and the "cure" might not work.

[OMGWTF]

45. That's not fked-up at all /s/

[modrepub]

49. Ignoring/Downplaying COVID Is A Losing Strategy

TFG lost the Presidential election specifically because of his handling of the pandemic. Sane people know this second wave is primarily the responsibility of the people who won't get vaccinated (mostly Republican, though there is a large fraction of minority groups that typically support Democrats in this group also).

Independent voters, who generally determine state-wide and national elections, probably won't take kindly to the Republican strategy. Democratic voters aren't buying this. Republicans are killing and wounding their base in hopes of keeping them angry, uncooperative and motivated for 2022.

2022 will probably hinge on which group is more motivated to show up at the polls and if people in the suburban (which were more supportive of Democrats in 2020) and urban areas actually go to the polls (as opposed to mailing in their ballots). The last point is key since Republican efforts to "spoil" mail-in votes will probably be in place in most states for that election.

[PortTack]

50. Except Biden doesn't look bad!

[KS Toronado]

51. We need to start putting together some campaign ads

showcasing their shortcomings. My first one.....Would you rather vote for a
mass murderer or a pro life Democrat?

[colorado_ufo]

52. I believe the problem is that Biden's economy is going so well.

The economy was Trump's strength, and when the pandemic hit, that dissolved. Now they want the pandemic to run rampant again and have the economy shut down once more, so they can give Biden the blame.

Morality has left the building.

[Vinca]

53. Guess it's never occurred to them they're killing their own voters.

The sane party is, by and large, vaccinating and wearing masks.

[liberal N proud]

58. republicans are SICK

[GoCubsGo]

60. The actual reason can be found in their stock portfolios.

See: Paul, Randy and Death Sentence, Ron. I have no doubt that there are a whole bunch of others who are profiting from the pandemic, as well.

[NewHendoLib]

63. sure. it's the authoritarian way. it's a feature, not a bug

[bucolic_frolic]

64. In a war of simple attrition, they are losing more people

And if their strategy becomes perception fewer of those will vote for them. The trick is not to dent our numbers with lies and doubts sown by Republican propaganda

[Warpy]

65. I've said for months that this is the most cynical propaganda campaign I've ever seen

They wanted another economic tailspin to prove exactly how bad the socialist Democrats are.

That's the only reason they're willing people. And now they're killing kids.

They have been doing the equivalent of yelling "FIRE!" in a crowded theater. This is not protected speech.

It is calculated, it is callous, it is cynical, and it is deadly. There must be consequences.

[pecosbob]

67. Not at all uncommon for Republicans to sacrifice others' lives to gain or hold office

[Martin Eden]

68. Is it a crime ...

... to intentionally spread disinformation with the intent of causing death, and succeeding in causing thousands of deaths?

If it ain't, it oughtta be!

[TheRickles]

69. I'd love to know who that "pretty senior Hill aide on the Republican side" is.

[Champp]

71. Republicans pissing on America

As usual. No one will ever forget who they are and what they have done to this great nation.

[DFW]

72. They are "doing the math"

Last edited Sat Aug 14, 2021, 02:45 PM - Edit history (2)

100,000 dead Republicans is an acceptable trade-off if they can block 600,000 eligible Democrats from voting.

[Moebym]

73. I thought nothing would shock me anymore.

This actually did.

Despite their "own the libs" mentality, I dared not believe that they would actually deliberately try to kill their own constituents to make Biden look bad.

[Xoan]

74. The average Republican is blind.

[unblock]

76. more evidence the *media* is highly biased in favor of the right-wing, and the right-wing knows it

if the media were at all objective, republicans they would know the media would simply have to pin the blame on republicans for obstructing and misinforming and in so many ways trying to sabotage biden and our collective anti-covid efforts.

but republicans know that they can create a disaster and then when it comes time to assign blame, the media will happily and endlessly repeat whatever republicans say at that point. if they want to blame biden, the media will report that ad nauseum. if by then there's a more politically expedient target (say biden declines to run for re-election, but a new front-runner emerges), then they're blame that person somehow.

they know the media will give wings to any and all republican smears.


if we had an objective, responsible media, republicans wouldn't dare try something like this. there's always room for sabotage, in small, secretive ways. not on anything like the nationwide, public scale that they're doing now.

[Martin68]

77. It was obvious all along, but I'm surprised one of them admitted to it.

[krkaufman]

78. Where did she write this?

It sounds like Julia Ioffe reported this while on Melber's show, but did she not previously report on this aide's statement?

[Lonestarblue]

82. Perhaps Republicans don't care how many of their own die because they can just steal elections.

They’ve been putting the laws into place to overturn elections. Why do they need voters! When Democrats return to DC, they need to pass a voting rights laws ASAP.

[Marius25]

83. I've been saying this for awhile now.

Republicans are intentionally botching Covid so people will blame Biden, making it easier for a 2024 run by DeSantis.

[calimary]

87. Hah! Like they think DeSantis is a good prospect.

Wonder how high the death-toll-on-his-watch will be by then? We should make sure he gets ALL the “credit” for that.

[Roc2020]

86. The GOP is mostly a death cult

the problem with their 'death by covid' tactic is if the mass of majority of people that are killed by Covid are from Red states. Which is what's happening.

[YoshidaYui]

88. Baka Yaro

Murderers need to go to prison, including Ron DeSantos - and Greg Abbott, - Genocide! To make Biden look bad? God damn them all to hell with a hot poker in the eyes.

[fwvinson]

89. But.........

They are KILLING their own voters. Dog, they are ignorant.

[Rebl2]

94. Thought

Biden did credit Trump for getting the ball rolling on the vaccines a long time ago. Sorry but this crisis started under tfg and no way will anyone forget that.

[Ingloriusbastrd1]

95. The real Plandemic all along

Yup!

There we have it folks! The real plandemic going on.
TFG hoped that letting the virus ‘wash through’ the population would help him retain power.

[bdamomma]

96. All for fucking power.

Abbott and DeSantis are jockeying who can kill most of their constituents for their run in 2024. Arrogant POS, both of them.

[BlueAJ]

102. Wartime mentality

In many Republican's minds, they are at war with Democrats. During war you expect losses on your own side as the cost of victory. Republicans who die from COVID are dying "in the line of duty" from their perspective.

[Beartracks]

103. That's why they accused mask-wearing Democrats of "trying to make Trump look bad."

Because it's what they would do / are doing.

==========

[Beartracks]

104. To Republicans, Americans are expendable.

[DallasNE]

107. For GOP Everything Boils Down To Capital So Money Matters, Not People

If a few people die then that is just a little collateral damage - nothing to worry about.

[usaf-vet]

109. ///\

[Evolve Dammit]

110. Not Christ-like are they? More leaning toward...Satan?? My best church lady (Dana Carvey). Serious

[Pepsidog]

112. I believe it completely.

[oasis]

115. So the GOP seeks to benefit from the pandemic? How long did it take

for anyone to figure that one out?