Pathetic: DeSantis Campaign Planted That Bizarre Anti-LGBTQ Ad in Fan Account

Ron DeSantis shocked everyone earlier this month when his campaign shared a deeply bigoted ad attacking LGBTQ people.

The video appeared to come from a conservative group made in support of the Florida governor. But it turns out that the video was actually made in-house and planted in the fan account.

The attack ad attempted to portray Donald Trump as pro-LGBTQ and cast DeSantis as a hypermasculine anti-LGBTQ crusader.  But instead, it came across as terrifyingly homophobic and oddly homoerotic.

The video (since taken down due to copyright issues) was originally posted on a pro-DeSantis Twitter account, which was then shared by DeSantis’s campaign. But in reality, a campaign aide made the video, The New York Times reported Sunday, and then sent it to an outside supporter to post first in order to make it look like the ad was made independently.

The ad features DeSantis shooting lasers out of his eyes, as well as clips from films and television shows such as American Psycho, Troy, and Peaky Blinders—all of which one would think are more of a lesson against the oppressive, militaristic approach to governance that DeSantis has been touting.

The poorly thought-out ad was part of a larger attempt to reinvigorate DeSantis’s struggling campaign. His bid for president has yet to take off, concerning both his team and his donors. In most polls, he is second to Trump, but the gap between them is large. DeSantis’s campaign has also been bleeding cash, to the tune of more than $212,000 per day on average, according to the Times.

Analysts say that there is still time for DeSantis to turn things around, but if the disastrous ad has shown anything, it’s that the Florida governor is struggling to find a message. DeSantis has focused on promising to fight “wokeness” but has failed to produce any actual policy ideas or a clear reason why people should vote for him over Trump. Attempts to portray himself as tougher or more ideologically right of Trump have backfired spectacularly.

Republican politicians are rushing to defend ultraconservative country singer Jason Aldean, whose new song openly calls for violence against Black people.

Aldean released the song “Try That in a Small Town” in May, and the incredibly alarming music video just last week. The song’s lyrics are rife with threats to outsiders, particularly people from the city. The words encourage listeners to resort to vigilantism and gun violence against outsiders.

But the music video is more explicit about whom it considers an outsider. The video includes clips of riots, vandalism, and police encounters. Some of the images come from Fox News’s coverage of Black Lives Matter protests, but some are stock footage, including of demonstrations from other countries. The intended effect is to encourage violence against  people protesting racial injustice.

Those clips are spliced alongside shots of Aldean singing outside the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee. The building is the site of a racist attack in 1927, when a white mob lynched an 18-year-old Black teenager by pulling him out of a jail cell and dragging him through the city behind a car. The courthouse was also the site of a race riot in 1946.

The video sparked widespread pushback, and Country Music Television said Thursday it will no longer air the music video. Conservatives have pushed back against the (very understandable) outcry by accusing people of infringing on Aldean’s freedom of speech.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said on Twitter she was “shocked by what I’m seeing in this country with people attempting to cancel this song and cancel Jason and his beliefs.”

Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn warned that “cancel culture is the enemy of freedom of expression,” while Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders accused Democrats of being “more concerned about @Jason_Aldean’s song calling out looters and criminals than they are about stopping looters and criminals.”

Presidential hopefuls have also weighed in. “Jason Aldean is a fantastic guy who just came out with a great new song. Support Jason all the way. MAGA!!!” Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley actually played the song at their campaign stops. Ramaswamy said Aldean was being “sacrificed at the altar of censorship & cancellation,” while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suggested that “when the media attacks you, you’re doing something right.”

This is not Aldean’s first foray into politics. He is openly anti-vaccine and has dressed his children in anti–Joe Biden clothing. His wife and sister have a conservative clothing line dedicated to mocking liberals, and Aldean wore blackface for a costume in 2015. He has also gone golfing with Trump and gave an impromptu performance at Mar-a-Lago.

You have to wonder where Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will go when Thanksgiving rolls around this time.

On Friday, Jack Schlossberg—President John F. Kennedy’s only grandson—denounced RFK Jr., calling his candidacy “an embarrassment” and a “vanity project.”

“President John F. Kennedy is my grandfather. And his legacy is important. It’s about a lot more than Camelot and conspiracy theories. It’s about public service and courage,” Schlossberg began.

“It’s about civil rights, the Cuban missile crisis, and landing a man on the moon. Joe Biden shares my grandfather’s vision for America, that we do things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. And he is in the middle of becoming the greatest progressive president we’ve ever had,” he continued.

“Under Biden, we’ve added 13 million jobs. Unemployment is at its lowest in 60 years. Biden passed the largest investment in infrastructure since the New Deal, and the largest investment in green energy ever. He’s appointed more federal judges than any president since my grandfather. He ended our longest war. He ended the Covid pandemic, and he ended Donald Trump.”

And on RFK Jr., he didn’t mince his words.

“I’ve listened to him. I know him. I have no idea why anyone thinks he should be president,” Schlossberg said about his cousin. “What I do know is his candidacy is an embarrassment. Let’s not be distracted again by somebody’s vanity project. I am excited to vote for Joe Biden in my state’s primary and again in the general election, and I hope you will too.”

Schlossberg’s comments follow a string of other family members expressing their discontent with the anti-vax candidate seemingly supported by more Republicans than Democrats. The denunciations came after Kennedy’s remarks that Covid-19 was “targeted” to spare people who are “Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”

“I STRONGLY condemn my brother’s deplorable and untruthful remarks last week about Covid being engineered for ethnic targeting,” said Kennedy’s sister, Kerry Kennedy, earlier this week. “His statements do not represent what I believe or what Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights stands for, with our 50+ year track record of protecting rights and standing against racism and all forms of discrimination,” added the president of the RFK Human Rights advocacy organization.

“My uncle’s comments were hurtful and wrong. I unequivocally condemn what he said,” said former Representative Joe Kennnedy III.

After passing an unequivocal pledge of fealty to Israel, Republicans still are not satisfied. On Thursday, three Republicans introduced a resolution censuring Representative Pramila Jayapal for calling Israel a racist state.

Republicans Andy Ogles, Randy Weber, and Jeff Duncan filed the lengthy resolution claiming Jayapal “has promoted antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiment through her congressional career.” Not once in their resolution did the Republicans name an instance of Jayapal saying anything negative about Jewish people, effectively conflating criticisms of Israel with criticisms of Jewish people (which is antisemitic).

Note too, this comes from the party that has not taken any similar action toward one of its own, George Santos—a serial liar, a man who made up a fake charity for a veteran’s dying dog only to then steal all the money, and someone who has pretended to be Jewish. Nor has this party taken any action about its leading presidential candidate of eight years dining with one of the most vicious and loud antisemites in the country.

The resolution follows an ongoing drama displaying the American government’s resolute support for a state committing massive human rights violations, and its instinctive hostility toward anyone who questions it.

Last week, Jayapal called Israel—a state that has committed decades of human rights abuses, engaged in land dispossession and home demolition, upheld separate systems of law, and maintained a militarized police state against Palestinians—a “racist state.”

She made the comments at the progressive Netroots Nation conference in Chicago, ahead of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address to Congress on Wednesday. Senator Bernie Sanders and Representatives Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Raul Grijalva, and Nydia Velasquez all boycotted said address—in similar fashion to members boycotting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States for his record on minority rights.

Republicans went on a full-throated offensive against Jayapal and her progressive colleagues, while ignoring actual vile antisemitism among their ranks. But Democrats too (including Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark, Pete Aguilar, and Ted Lieu) jumped in on attacking one of their own for echoing what an array of human rights organizations have already said.

All the tone-policing of Jayapal’s comments—and the continued little to no concern for Palestinians—led to the House this week voting overwhelmingly in support of a resolution that declared, “The State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state” and assured, “The United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel.”

While Jayapal later walked back her comments—even before the House resolution—she still maintained her position that Israel has an “extreme right-wing government” that “has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies.” Organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have come to a similar conclusion, describing Israel’s actions as racist, abusive, and part of an apartheid system.

Republicans’ resolution to punish Jayapal cites Israel’s “unwavering willingness to work in good faith.”

Just days after Congress laid out the red carpet for Israel’s president—who once called Jewish intermarriage “a plague”—Israeli forces shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian boy, bringing the 2023 Palestinian death count to over 150.

Such good faith.

Hunter Biden has hit back at Marjorie Taylor Greene for showing everyone his nude photos, as his lawyer filed an ethics complaint against the Georgia Republican on Friday.

The House Oversight Committee heard testimony on Wednesday from two IRS agents who say the Department of Justice dragged its feet on investigating the younger Biden for tax fraud. The hearing produced zero actual evidence, so instead, Greene tried to claim that Biden engaged in sex trafficking and listed payments to sex workers as a tax write-off. To support her argument, she held up poster-size prints of Biden’s nude photos, which she later also shared on her email newsletter.

Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell sent a letter to the nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics asking that Greene be investigated and penalized for her “outrageous, undignified conduct.”

“None of her actions or statements could possibly be deemed to be part of any legitimate legislative activity, as is clear from both the content of her statements and her conduct and the forums she uses to spew her unhinged rhetoric,” Lowell wrote.

“Rather than evaluate the credibility of the IRS agents’ testimony or review our tax laws, Ms. Greene sought to use the power of her office to generate some clicks online, fundraise, and provide sensationalist clips for Fox News at the expense of harassing and embarrassing Mr. Biden.”

Lowell previously urged the OCE to take action on Greene in April, accusing her of defaming Biden, spreading false allegations and conspiracy theories about him, and publishing his private photos and data. “If the OCE takes its responsibilities seriously, it will promptly and decisively condemn and discipline Ms. Greene for her latest actions,” he said in Friday’s letter.

The OCE is an independent agency that reviews allegations of misconduct against lawmakers and their staff. If necessary, the OCE will refer matters to the Ethics Committee—which is where Greene’s case could end up (and where investigations into George Santos still continue, nearly two months after he was federally indicted).

This isn’t the first time Republicans have shared Hunter’s nudes, but blowing them up on a poster for a congressional hearing is a new low. Not only was Greene’s decision to wave Biden’s nudes around wildly inappropriate—Oversight Chair James Comer did not reprimand her, though—but she may also have violated D.C. revenge porn law. City law prohibits knowingly disclosing one or more sexual images of an identified or identifiable person when the person in the photo did not consent to the image being shared.

What’s more, Greene may have sent the nudes to minors when she included them in her email newsletter. There is no screening for age when signing up for her newsletter, so any minors who subscribe have now received nudes from their congresswoman. If that is the case, then Greene could have broken federal laws banning the distribution of obscene material to minors.