If you’ve followed Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06) at all, you are well aware how dishonest, (far-right) extremist, biased, irresponsible, ignorant, etc. he is. For just a few examples, see:
- As Virginia Works to Rebuild Trust in Policing, Reps. Ben Cline (R-VA06) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA02) Push to Hand Authority to ICE
- Video: Jack Smith “Fact Checks” Far-Right Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06) Over and Over Again, as Cline Basically Laughs Off Trump’s Threats to Witnesses, Courts, etc. – and the Need for a “Gag Order”
- Superb Letter from Constituent Rips MAGA Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06) for His “Betrayal of CD-6,” Vote for Big Ugly Bill, “shameful complicity” with Trump in Severely Harming His District
- Video, Photos: In Waynesboro, Staffers of Far-Right Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06) – Who Refuses to Hold a Town Hall – “left without answering any questions. Booed as they left”
- New ‘Republicans for Ukraine’ Report Card Gives Reps. Bob Good (R-VA05), Ben Cline (R-VA06) “F” Grades
- Video: Insurrectionist/Extremist Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06) Spews Out Lies at Far-Right CPAC Conference, Rants About “the Squad,” the “Green New Deal,” “folks who think that a boy is a girl,” etc.
So obviously, this fall, VA06 can and should vote to replace this fascist clown, and they’ve got a superb alternative in Democrat Beth Macy – who would be an INFINITELY better representative for the district than Cline has been.
Anyway, so this morning, the House Judiciary Committee – headed up by the egregiously heinous Rep. “Gym” Jordan – held a highly biased hearing against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which the Trump administration and his MAGA allies are in the process of assaulting. As Donna Brazile wrote recently:
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which has fought racism and worked with law enforcement and others to bring violent white supremacists to justice since 1973, is drawing well-deserved support as it defends itself against Trump administration criminal charges and its CEO prepares to testify before Congress.
More than 400 civil rights, labor, environmental and other groups have signed an open letter to members of Congress criticizing the 11 charges of wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering that the Justice Department filed against the center in April.
The letter to lawmakers says the indictment “has no basis — it is a naked attempt to weaponize the criminal justice system to silence speech and activities this administration dislikes.”
The center filed a motion on May 26 asking a judge to dismiss the baseless charges, which are part of a campaign by President Trump to punish those “deemed to be his political enemies.”
So this morning, “Gym” Jordan and his fellow far-right/MAGA Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee spewed out all kinds of wild allegations, accusations, innuendo, etc. against the SPLC. Fortunately, the SPLC interim president, Bryan Fair, kept his cool, had the facts on his side, and basically demolished the Trumpists attacking his organization. Case in point, check out the following exchange between Mr. Fair and disgrace-to-Virginia-and-to-Congress Ben Cline.
- First, Cline claimed (laughably) that he’s “very concerned about the allegations in the indictment about your organization’s role in the planning of the Unite the Right Rally.” That’s the rally, of course, about which Donald Trump infamously stated that there was “blame on both sides” and that there were “very fine people on both sides.” For the record, of course, the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, anti-Semites, etc. who marched in Charlottesville on August 11-12, 2017, were not in any way/shape/form “very fine people,” but the exact opposite, actually. Anyway, given that Cline is a 100% loyal Trumpist and a far-right extremist himself, the concept that he’s an honest broker here, just looking for the truth, is beyond laughable – insulting to all of our intelligence.
- Second, Cline then asserted that, “following the Unite the Right rally, the SPLC reported an annual revenue increase of $80 million between 2015 and 2016.” The response from the SPLC interim president was that “a number of national civil rights groups saw their fundraising donations surge after the election of Donald Trump.” He also pointed out that “the Unite the Right rally was in 2017; you referred to 2015 and 2016.” So yeah, Cline got that completely wrong (“Unite the Right” was in August 2017, not in 2015 or 2016), but that didn’t slow him down one bit, even though it totally demolished his entire “argument,” such as it was. Instead, Cline then pivoted to, “following 2017, you saw an increase, correct?” Again, the response from the SPLC interim president was clear – “The largest increase to my knowledge occurred after the election of Donald Trump.” BINGO by Mr. Fair – not to mention game/set/match to the SPLC interim president over the completely dishonest, ignorant buffoon who somehow got elected and reelected to the U.S. House of Representatives (mis)representing VA06.
- Now, here’s a video clip of Cline again getting fact checked, and if he had a scintilla of ability to feel shame, embarrassed by the SPLC interim president. This time, Cline pushed the bullshit about supposed “special treatment” by the Biden administration of the SPLC. And yet again, Cline was just completely, absurdly wrong on the facts. As Mr. Fair stated in response to Cline’s conspiratorial nonsense and idiocy: “As I said to Chairman Jordan, the SPLC has met with every administration since its founding to advance racial justice and equality in this country. I’m not aware of any special treatment for the SPLC during any of those administrations.” Also, “I’m not aware of any training of prosecutors; we did work with law enforcement and sponsor trainings for law enforcement, if that’s what you mean.” So yet again, Cline was/is completely full of crap.
The broader question with far-right-buffoon Ben Cline is, how long are the voters in VA06 going to put up with this guy’s continued, egregious behavior, and replace him with a serious, sane, competent, honest member of Congress? Again, they’ve got a chance to do just that in November; let’s hope they take advantage of it!
