“This wasn’t what this interview was going to be about,” a flustered Ron Johnson said to CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins.
When asked Monday about Republicans in Wisconsin having falsely claimed to be electors for Donald Trump in the 2020 election, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) claimed that Democrats have done the same “repeatedly in all kinds of different states”—yet failed to provide even one example, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins merely to “check the books.”
On The Source, Collins mentioned how 10 Republicans in Johnson’s state settled a lawsuit last week that was brought by Wisconsin’s legitimate electors, who had sought $200,000 from each elector. Though no fine was handed down, each elector admitted that Joe Biden won the election and agreed to not be an elector in 2024 or any election in which Donald Trump was a candidate. They also agreed that by posing as electors, they were “part of an attempt to improperly overturn” the election results.
They’re so used to getting no pushback.
To them pushback equals betrayal. If your boss says some bullshit (especially if it’s some self serving bullshit), you’re supposed to tell everyone you agree. True and false don’t matter nearly as much; it’s mostly where your loyalties are, and who will go to bat for you and who won’t. I haven’t seen the clip, but my guess is his body language is more or less as if some trusted friend had stolen money from him or something, because that’s how pointing out someone who’s “above you” is lying reads, in their world.
Makes me think about how Ron DeSantis would intentionally mispronounce ‘Thai Food’ on dates because any woman that corrected him on anything was not a woman he wanted to be with.
Interesting. Sort of like the ‘face’ concept in parts of Asia?
Sort of. In Asia, as I understand it, there’s a shared understanding (right or wrong) of who are the “upper” and “lower” parts of the hierarchy. The American version has each individual Republican placing themselves in the “top group” of their little hierarchy in whatever interaction – so e.g. I can treat my kids however I want to treat them, but if the cops come and look into it, it’s an affront to my freedoms and I’m down trodden and abused. Congress impeaching Trump is a grave injustice the likes of which has never been seen before, congress impeaching Biden is absolutely just and natural and anyone who says anything bad about it is a traitor. Etc.
Edit: Related story: An American military guy who was trying to conduct training in a particular non-Western culture wrote an extremely frustrated article in some military journal about his experience. Basically, what he was trying to say while trying super hard not to be racist about it, was that he’d noticed that if a student in his classes ever gave a wrong answer and he corrected them about it publicly, that person would be his enemy from that point going forward. Like it was some kind of mortal insult for him to suggest to the class that they didn’t have the answers to everything already. To him with an American background this was a normal part of teaching, but in this culture it was some grave insult. He basically said, I’ve tried a bunch of different ways and I think I’m running up against just a fundamental aspect of this culture that makes it tough for adult people to ever learn anything. To me that’s similar to the Ron Johnson behavior: A culture of “the people on top are in charge of everything” coupled with “I’m the people on top, I’m at the peak of my own little hierarchy and don’t have to listen to anyone and can do what I want” in an extremely toxic way.
‘Face’ concept? I could’ve sworn people in Asia had faces. TIL!
Oh. They can also lose their face, walk around with no face, and need other people to give them some face, or spend time saving their face from time to time. Go figure.
It’s a feudalistic mindset, and it’s leading us directly back to feudalism.
I recently saw a comment to the effect of “democrats want power to be distributed latterally, while republicans want it in the form of an absolute heirarchy.”
Big “that thing that guy said” vibes over here indeed.
There once was a “man” from Wisconsin
A dim traitor oft known as Ron Johnson
Incredibly stupid, beholden to Putin
The fall of democracy, his swan song
Change “democracy” to “the country”; it scans much better that way.
“There have been alternate slates of electors by Democrat electors in our history. Again, you didn’t—this wasn’t what this interview was going to be about,” he griped. “I’ll come and I’ll provide you the information, but I’m absolutely certain about that.”
“I look forward to your office sending that information,” Collins replied. “We’ll publish it if it’s accurate.”
If you wanted to tell blatant lies with no demand for proof you should’ve gone on Fox News, turd.
Democrats have done the same thing, democrats have done the same thing, democrats have done the same thing.
That’s essentially all he says, just with lots more filler words.
I love firing back with two examples of “Republicans did it, did it worse, and are still doing it” for every example a MAGAt pushes.
Oh, you have 3 articles about a trans person shooting someone? Here’s 47 of a republican doing the same just because the other person was [insert minority or political view here].
Got one of a “librul” stealing funds? Oh boy you might want to sit because we are gonna be here awhile.
Got a tale of THOSE DEMON-RATS hiding someone’s sexual impropriety? Well damn. I think it’s easier to list the Republicans not doing that.
Which states? Which books? Uhhhh …
I am aware of Hawaii in 1960 (as I am certain Ms. Collins also is). In short, the vote tally had Nixon beating Kennedy in Hawaii by 140 votes. One, Hawaii’s three electoral votes would not have changed the outcome of the election; Kennedy won handily without them. Two, the recount flipped the state in Kennedy’s favor. Three, Hawaii in 1960 is “the only legal precedent for dueling Electoral College slates since the Electoral Count Act passed in 1887.” There have never been any other dueling slates of electors in any other states, nor in any other election years.
Ron Johnson is a liar.
And the only reason Hawaii did it was because the slates were due before the recounts would be finished.
They sent two official slates of electors knowing that by the time the count was due, the results would be known and the losing slate would be invalidated.
Yeah I feel like this is the important bit. Has it happened? Yes and no. Yes, because two slates were sent, but no because there was never a plan to submit the incorrect slate. It was literally a CYA procedure to make sure they weren’t holding things up by having sent the wrong slate.
Johnson lies constantly. The only reason he isn’t treated like George Santos is he is not so stupid as to make his lies completely non-credible to everyone.
That and he hasn’t stolen from Republicans. Republicans didn’t seem to care about Santos’ lies or fraud until it turned out that he stole from the Republican party. Then, suddenly, his lies and fraud were a big deal and needed to be punished.
What a scumbag, of all the typical scumbag shit, what I’m most irritated about is the “that’s not what this interview was about.”
Excuse me Mr.Fuckallforbrains? You’re an American representative and the goddamn media has a fucking duty to press you on whatever questions they damn well feel like. He might as well have said “I thought we took over CNN, isn’t it safe for Republicans to lie now?”
Christ these people are so anti-american and yet constantly wrap themselves in the goddamn flag…
Is that like a headline they wrote so that it can be reused over and over?
They should totally just keep trotting it out every time this guy opens his mouth.
Media would need to stop coddling them first, but sure why not.
For everyone who wonders why I want a browser plugin that replaces every instance of “Ron Johnson” with “That fucker, Ron Johnson.”
Am I the only one who thinks Ron Johnson looks a bit like the villain Senator Kinsey from Stargate? It’s just uncanny how similar they are, even down to the villainy.
Senator Kinsey
for those wondering :
Little bit, yeah. (needs to shave to pull it off, though.)
Meh, most middle-aged, fairly fit, white guys can pull that, we can all look the same.
Shave me down, fake the receding hairline, put 10-years and 10-pounds on me, put me in a solid suit, I could pull off the evil senator look.
EDIT: And hide me away from sunlight for a month or two.
At least you have an easy costume option!
How dare you, sir! How. Dare. You.
That is Starfleet’s greatest captain.
But he was also the dick in Total Recall.
Senator Kinsey
For those wondering:
Little bit, yeah.
He calls it a nuisance lawsuit; they should be in prison, where they belong.
Man. Kaitlan Collins is so fine.
