preserve am lacivita

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AN 5 26

President Donald Trump’s last-minute endorsement of MAGA Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton over conservative U.S. Senator John Cornyn in the Texas primary runoff for Cornyn’s seat was not only a surprise to many who saw the Texas senator as the stronger candidate, it turned out to be a targeted attack on Senate Republicans.

“Trump backing Paxton was an intentional ‘f—— you’ to a stalled Republican Senate, said a White House official granted anonymity to speak candidly about the president’s thinking,” reports MS NOW. Trump’s “endorsement of Paxton, people familiar with his thinking say, was aimed squarely at Senate Republicans who have not bent to his demands quickly enough.”

Senate Republicans “didn’t do anything with the filibuster, they’re doing nothing with the SAVE Act, they are a problem every step of the way and I think he just finally had enough,” the official told MS NOW.

The president made that clear in his announcement that he was endorsing Paxton.

“Ken is a Strong Supporter of terminating the filibuster and, very importantly, the Save America Act, something which polls at 87%, including Dumocrats, and yet can’t seem to get approved. Perhaps Ken can help move these important elements of Government forward,” he wrote.

Trump has repeatedly demanded Senate Republicans eliminate the filibuster and pass his SAVE America Act, which critics call voter suppression legislation.

Cornyn, a highly successful fundraiser who was in the running to become Senate Majority Leader less than two years ago, now faces a candidate he calls corrupt, who was impeached by his own party, faced numerous scandals including adultery allegations, and was behind in fundraising.

Trump’s endorsement of Paxton, especially this year, is expected to make a Cornyn win in Tuesday’s GOP primary runoff difficult. The winner will go on to face Democratic state Representative James Talarico.

“Paxton has faced allegations of corruption, financial malfeasance and infidelity,” The Washington Post reports. “He has also struggled to keep up with Cornyn or Talarico — both prodigious fundraisers — in raising money. Cornyn asserts that Senate Republicans would have to divert essential cash from other competitive races to propel Paxton if he became the nominee.”

“It would be hundreds of millions of dollars, and there’s still a good chance he would lose,” Cornyn said last week.

Trump’s endorsement of Paxton went against that of his own top advisor, Chris LaCivita, who was advising a Cornyn super PAC, MS NOW noted.

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an 10 24

Chris LaCivita, Donald Trump’s current campaign co-manager, reposted statements on social media condemning the violent and deadly January 6, 2021 insurrection and attack on the U.S. Capitol—and blaming Donald Trump for that day’s violence.

“On January 6, 2021, LaCivita reposted several posts that harshly condemned Trump, suggesting that even some of his closest allies once viewed the deadly outcome as a direct result of Trump’s lies,” CNN‘s Andrew Kaczynski reports.

Among them, “a statement on January 6 from former President George W. Bush, who expressed ‘disbelief and dismay’ at the violent assault on the Capitol, calling it ‘a sickening and heartbreaking sight.'”

“I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election and by the lack of respect shown today for our institutions, our traditions, and our law enforcement,” Bush’s statement read. “The violent assault on the Capitol – and disruption of a Constitutionally-mandated meeting of Congress – was undertaken by people whose passions have been inflamed by falsehoods and false hopes.”

CNN reports it also “reviewed a video showing a screen recording of posts that LaCivita liked on January 6, including one from Republican former Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia, who called for Trump’s Cabinet to remove him from office via the 25th Amendment.”

“Anotherpost shared by LaCivita was a stark message from a Republican Senate aide, which John McCormack, then a reporter for the conservative magazine National Review, shared on X”:

“Text message from a GOP Senate aide: ‘This is a disgusting tragedy. Someone literally lost their life because of a lie that Trump told, Cruz/Hawley capitalized on, and fringe media echoed. This is in no way shape or form sustainable.’”

Some of LaCivita’s posts were deleted, but CNN was able to view them through the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

Another post, since removed from LaCivita’s feed, was from a Republican political operative. It read: “They are not protestors. They are thugs.”

On social media, CNN’s Kaczynski writes, “The posts clash with Trump’s attempts to rewrite Jan 6. While Trump is spreading conspiracy theories about it being an inside job, LaCivita’s tweets from that day blame Trump for the violence, calling it an ‘insurrection’ fueled by his election lies.”

LaCivita is the GOP operative responsible for what became known as “Swiftboating.”

Recently, Trump has referred to the violent and deadly January 6 insurrection as a “day of love.” He has called those who participated in storming the Capitol and were convicted and imprisoned, “hostages,” and has promised to pardon them. Trump has been criminally indicted on felony charges for his alleged role in the insurrection and surrounding election subversion.

In that indictment, prosecutors say, Trump “pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results,” and “perpetrated three criminal conspiracies,” according to Democracy Docket.

He is facing charges including:

Conspiracy to defraud the United States;
Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding;
Obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and
Conspiracy against the right to vote and have one’s vote counted.

HuffPost White House correspondent S.V. Dáte wrote: “The big question isn’t why LaCivita thought Trump’s coup attempt was an affront to America. It’s why he — like so many others — would choose to go work to return him to that office.”

Kaczynski also adds: “LaCivita now tells CNN, ‘Retweets and likes are not endorsements’ and some of the posts have since been removed.”

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/the-republican-architect-of-the-2004-swift-boat-campaign-against-john-kerry-is-now-trying-to-swift-boat-biden-and-get-trump-reelected/

no vid

although Democrats have won the popular vote in six of the last seven presidential elections, 2004 is remembered as the year in which George W. Bush became the only GOP president to win both the electoral vote and the popular vote in a post-1980s election. Republican strategist Chris LaCivita, who coordinated the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth disinformation campaign against 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, can take some of the credit for Bush’s reelection — and in 2020, journalist Alex Isenstadt reports in Politico, LaCivita is overseeing a new super PAC designed to help President Donald Trump win a second term.

The super PAC is called Preserve America and, according to Isenstadt, “is poised to begin a $30 million advertising blitz” and “is expected to draw the support of a range of GOP megadonors, including Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus.”

“The move comes as Republicans express mounting concern over the drubbing Trump has been taking on TV,” Isenstadt explains. “The president, in August, went dark in several battleground states and, in Wisconsin, was outspent more than 8 to 1, according to the media tracking firm Advertising Analytics. In Florida, Trump was outpaced by Biden more than 3 to 1.”

Given LaCivita’s track record, the Democratic National Committee and the 2020 campaign of former Vice President Joe Biden should not take him lightly. In 2004, the George W. Bush Administration drew a great deal of criticism over the Iraq War and the overthrow of dictator Saddam Hussein — one of the worst foreign policy blunders in U.S. history.But the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ran a campaign against Kerry that was both deceptive and effective. Although Kerry was a Vietnam veteran and Bush avoided the Vietnam War, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth managed to convince many gullible voters that Kerry was anti-military.

to this day, “Swift Boat” is used as a slang expression to describe a deceptive political takedown of an opponent. LaCivita, in other words, would love to Swift Boat Biden just as he Swift Boated Kerry 16 years ago.

Preserve America’s anti-Biden ads are veryTrumpian in tone, resorting to hysterical fear-mongering — something LaCivita has a long history of doing — and claiming that Biden is anti-law enforcement : [2 vids]

the super PACs that have been keeping busy in 2020 range from the pro-Trump America Action First to the pro-Biden Priorities USA. Trump supporters, Isenstadt notes, have been frustrated to see Priorities USA raising more money than America Action First — and Republicans are hoping that Preserve America will give Trump’s campaign a fundraising advantage.

Preserve America is already going after key battleground states. Isenstadt notes that its first commercials will begin airing this Tuesday, September 1 in “in Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Iowa and Georgia.”

“Roughly $25 million of the total buy will be invested on TV, a figure that nearly matches what America First Action and Priorities USA have spent on the airwaves over the course of the entire election cycle,” Idenstadt reports. “The remaining $5 million will appear on digital platforms.”

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