In a recording clandestinely made by a rightwing activist of Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen (R), the speaker laments that while he “loves” President Donald Trump, the President is “killing” his party in suburban districts.
According to local radio station WBAP, which obtained the recording, Bonnen emphasizes the importance of having the right Republicans in place to defeat Democratic challengers, and to “unload” members not able to do that.
The heart of the controversy here centers on activist Michael Quinn Sullivan claiming that Bonnen and since-resigned Republican caucus chairman Dustin Burrows gave him a list of Republican members to target with his powerful PAC in the primaries, in exchange for press credentials.
Certain Republicans have listened the recording, which has thus far been withheld from Democrats and the press for fear of how “damaging” it is to the Republican Party ahead of critical state elections.
Bonnen has long been calling for the recording’s release and responded to WBAP’s publication of a few quotes from the tape Tuesday.
“I have repeatedly called for the recording to be released because it will be immediately clear that no laws were broken,” Bonnen said in a statement to TPM. “This was nothing more than a political discussion – the problem is that I had it with that guy. My colleagues have always deserved the facts and context this recording provides, and with clear evidence now disproving allegations of criminal wrongdoing, the House can finally move on.”
Hmmmm, it’s worse than that.
ETA: You can go to this guy’s twitter page, there’s more info about the recording. He didn’t put it in a thread.
There are certainly plenty of Trump supporters deep inside major cities (I’ve met them, as have most here), and Sanders/Warren supporters far away from them, including rural areas. But the further one gets from cities and the closer one gets to rural areas, the greater the percentage of pro-Trump (and, more generally, pro-GOP) folks. This has long been the case, since the mid-60’s if not earlier, especially in the south, due largely to the civil rights movement and cultural upheavals.
What is changing, though, is that the demarcation line, where pro-Trump/GOP and pro-Dem supporters are around 50-50–what I like to call the Dumbfuckistan Line–is being pushed farther out, from the inner suburbs to the outer ones. Repubs will probably always have exurbs and rural areas, but even there, their percentage should decline over time, at least until they move closer to the center again.
So the gist is Trump is killing the Party in suburban areas, and Bonnen will take care of everyplace else.
Oh, wow! Purposefully stymieing state government in order to get rid of members of his own party. It’s pretty much what McConnell vowed to do to Obama, but he wasn’t eating his own. I’m interested how this going to play out.
Hey, Mr. Bonnen -
You had me at “…the [presidunce] is killing our party…”
Say no more.