Tag: MN GOP

MN GOP Embarks on COVID Across Minnesota Bus Tour

Maskless, indoor campaign stops come despite rising COVID-19 levels in MN

St. Paul, MN – Today, the Minnesota Republican Party kicked off another bus tour featuring numerous maskless, indoor campaign stops. This tour comes despite the massive potential to spread COVID-19 at maskless, indoor events and despite the fact that Minnesota is seeing more new COVID-19 cases per day than at almost any other time during this pandemic.

The tour launched in Preston, Minnesota where attendees gathered indoors, in close proximity to one another, and without almost any masks:

Source: Twitter

Continue reading “MN GOP Embarks on COVID Across Minnesota Bus Tour”

Ex-wife gets restraining order against MN GOP spokesperson Jack Tomczak

As of July, the Republican Party of Minnesota has a new communications director.

His name is Jack Tomczak. You may remember him from the annals of angry white guy radio, before he departed abruptly from KTLK’s “Up and at ‘Em” morning show in 2016. His cohost, Andrew Lee, apologized to their audience but remained mum about the reason. 

After that, Tomczak was a co-host on the Up and At ‘Em podcast, then spent a couple years as a field director with Americans for Prosperity, the Koch family-backed political advocacy outfit.

Tomczak also previously worked for current GOP U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer’s failed 2010 bid for governor, and for ex-GOP U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, whom he later criticized for being “erratic” and “irrational.” Continue reading.

MN GOP Chair Accuses Democrats of “Communist Control” for Social Distancing

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Yesterday, the Chair of the Minnesota Republican Party, Jennifer Carnahan, took to Twitter to allege that “Democrats have turned Coronavirus into an excuse for extreme communist control,” due to social distancing measures implemented in the city of Minneapolis.

The full text of Carnahan’s tweet reads as follows:

“Was it necessary for Minneapolis to close the beaches for the summer in early Apr? Much can unfold, change & transpire between now/then. The Democrats have turned Coronavirus into an excuse for extreme communist control. Wake up people!”

Ken Martin, Chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party issued the following statement in response:

“I am shocked that the Chair of the Minnesota Republican Party would undermine important social distancing measures to score cheap political points. Jennifer Carnahan’s allegation that Democrats are using COVID-19 to push ‘extreme communist control’ is as ignorant as it is dangerous.

“Political leaders from both parties agree that the COVID-19 outbreak is the worst public health crisis our nation has seen in a century. New York City is converting convention centers to field hospitals and the Pentagon is preparing to distribute 100,000 body bags for the people this virus kills. In the midst of so much tragedy, uncertainty, and chaos, it is astonishing that the head of the Minnesota Republican Party felt it was appropriate to launch a hackneyed political attack because Minneapolis city officials are trying to keep Minnesotans safe.

“Giving up swimming in our beautiful Minneapolis beaches this summer is the least we can do to protect the lives of Minnesotans and prevent this scourge from spreading even further. Thousands of people are dying and will die because of the cavalier attitude of people who are putting their own privilege ahead of our community.  I sincerely hope this outbreak comes to a swift end. However, until it does, it is vital that we adhere to strict social distancing guidelines in order to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities.”

 

Paulsen’s Lies Not Limited to TV: Debunked Claims Hit Mailboxes Too

A dark secret: Paulsen and his special interest patrons are waging a disinformation campaign in MN03 mailboxes

EXCELSIOR, MN – Congressman Erik Paulsen’s coordinated negative television campaign has earned him unprecedented scrutiny from local fact checkers, but another tactic has earned him less scrutiny, with dozens of special interest-funded mailers containing the same objectively false claims landing in mailboxes across the Third District.

“Voters in Minnesota’s Third District have been subjected to a barrage of objectively false claims on TV and in their mailboxes thanks to Erik Paulsen and his special interest funders,” said Zach Rodvold, campaign manager for Phillips for Congress. “The pieces are too numerous to track, and have no regard for fact or truth — oftentimes coming from dark money groups who operate with no transparency. Congressman Paulsen and his special interest patrons have shown an unrelenting commitment to buying this election, and embracing Donald Trump’s propensity for lies and personal slander on the campaign trail as much as they have his policies in Washington.”

Congressman Paulsen has raised over $2.7 million from PACs – the fourth most of anyone in Congress – and used the money to run an unprecedentedly negative campaign that has been called inappropriate, reckless, false, distorted, not even in the same time zone as truth, extremely misleading, just plain false, and wildly out of context by independent journalists, community leaders, sexual harassment survivors, and Democrats, independents, and Republicans alike. While the TV ads have been the subject of scrutiny by independent fact checkers, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of deceptive direct mail has gone unnoticed.

Here are just some of the outrageous claims being delivered to mailboxes across the district:

Continue reading “Paulsen’s Lies Not Limited to TV: Debunked Claims Hit Mailboxes Too”

Republicans Run On Fear, Democrats Run On Protecting Health Care, Medicare & Social Security

Democrats have a clear message for Election Day: they are running to protect health care, Social Security and Medicare from Republican attempts to gut these vital programs. Republicans, on the other hand, have turned to a campaign strategy of fear and outright lies in order to get votes. The contrast couldn’t be clearer.

Democrats are running on protecting health care, Medicare, and Social Security from Republican attacks.

Yahoo News: “Democrats 2018: It’s the health care, stupid”

NBC News: “Democrats find new ways to talk about entitlement cuts in campaign’s closing days”

Washington Post: “As midterms near, Democrats accuse GOP of plotting to cut Medicare, Social Security”

Washington Examiner: “Democrats warn voters: The GOP is coming for your Social Security, healthcare”

Vox: “Half of 2018’s Democratic campaign ads are about health care”

Trump and Republicans are using fearmongering and lies to get votes.

CNN: “Trump’s midterm campaign of fear”

Washington Post: “Trump and Republicans settle on fear — and falsehoods — as a midterm strategy”

New York Times: “Trump and G.O.P. Candidates Escalate Race and Fear as Election Ploys”

MSNBC: “Trump, GOP look to stoke fear in base to goose election turnout”

Toronto Star: “Donald Trump’s strategy as midterms approach: lies and fear-mongering”

Faith leaders denounce Wardlow mailers attacking Keith Ellison

Faith leaders denounce Wardlow mailers attacking Keith Ellison

Republican candidate for Attorney General Doug Wardlow. Credit: Glen Stubbe, StarTribune

A group of faith leaders on Thursday condemned mailers sent out by Republican attorney general candidate Doug Wardlow as Islamophobic and intended to spread fear.

Wardlow’s fundraising mailers lambaste his Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, calling him “one of the most dangerous men in America” and saying he “pals around with radical Islamic groups and defends known terrorists.”

Wardlow’s mailers “are a significant departure from what America is all about. He has chosen to attack his opponent’s religion and he has chosen to attack religious institutions,” said Imam Asad Zaman, who spoke at a news conference along with two Lutheran pastors and a rabbi.

View the complete October 18 article by Jessie Van Berkel on the StarTribune website here.

Vice President Pence will be back in Minnesota this month

The following article by Adam Uren was posted on the BringMetheNews.com website August 20, 2018:

He was only in Duluth a few weeks ago.

Credit: Fox News

Mike Pence must be a fan of Minnesota, because he’s coming back to the state for the second time this month.

The vice president will be in the Twin Cities on Thursday, Aug. 30, when he will attend a fundraiser in Bloomington.

The news was confirmed by Minnesota GOP chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan, who said: “We are excited to welcome Vice President Pence back to Minnesota following our primary election.

View the complete article here.

Repeal the Legacy Amendment and outlaw gay marriage? 5 official Republican platform positions that might surprise you.

The following article by Dave Orrick was posted on the Pioneer Press website June 12, 2018:

Jeff Johnson, Republican candidate for governor in Minnesota, speaks before the GOP convention at the DECC in Duluth on Saturday, June 2, 2018. Credit: Bob King, Duluth News Tribune

The Republican Party of Minnesota wants to repeal the Legacy Amendment and outlaw gay marriage (again), two of a number of official party positions that might surprise some even within the GOP.

The positions are contained in the Republican party’s official “standing platform” — a collection of positions on issues ranging from taxes to abortion — that was approved earlier this month at the state convention in Duluth.

A word of caution: Party platforms are notoriously skewed toward the fringes of the major political parties because they’re usually drafted by a party’s die-hard members. They’re living documents from previous years that may or may not feel up to date, depending on your view. Continue reading “Repeal the Legacy Amendment and outlaw gay marriage? 5 official Republican platform positions that might surprise you.”

Activist Wants To Stop Muslims From Participating In Minnesota’s GOP

The following article by Rowaida Abdelaziz was posted on the Huffington Post website February 12, 2018:

A conservative activist in Minnesota introduced a resolution last week to “minimize and eliminate the influence of Islam” in the state’s Republican Party.

Jeff Baumann, a notorious anti-Muslim activist in Minnesota’s Senate District 36, also urged in the resolution that “no Islamic leader, religious or otherwise, shall ever be allowed to deliver the invocation at any Republican convention or event.”

Continue reading “Activist Wants To Stop Muslims From Participating In Minnesota’s GOP”

After President Trump’s Refusal to Denounce White Supremacists, Will Minnesota Republicans Campaign with the President and Vice President, Continue their Silence?

Despite Trump-Pence emboldening white supremacists, Republicans in Minnesota refuse to denounce the leaders of their party by name 

Will Minnesota Republicans campaign with President Trump and Vice President Pence? Will Chair Carnahan invite Trump to campaign with Republican candidates across the state?

[ST. PAUL, MN] – Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Chairman Ken Martin is calling out Minnesota Republicans’ silence and refusal to forcefully condemn the Trump-Pence Administration for its disturbing reaction to last weekend’s violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia and asking whether they will campaign with the ticket in the weeks and months ahead. Continue reading “After President Trump’s Refusal to Denounce White Supremacists, Will Minnesota Republicans Campaign with the President and Vice President, Continue their Silence?”