GOP senators attack Lincoln Project co-founder after he invokes Marco Rubio's Cuban heritage
Never has anything been so clear and obvious as the truth that both Rubio and you lack principle and courage. Trump has cruelly attacked your Wife, the Mother of your daughters and your Father. You debase yourself to maintain his favor for the low purpose of protecting your position and title. During this hour of crisis you could have stood up for American democracy, security and simple decency. You did not."
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Washington (CNN)Republican Sens. Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rick Scott criticized Steve Schmidt, a co-founder of the anti-President Donald Trump super PAC the Lincoln Project, after Schmidt went after Rubio in a series of tweets that invoked the Florida senator's Cuban heritage.
The exchange started after Rubio tweeted on Monday, "Brilliant move! No one is more in touch with the challenges & obstacles faced by everyday Americans than actors & celebrities," in response to a clip of actress Eva Longoria speaking at the Democratic National Convention.
In response, Schmidt on Tuesday criticized the Florida GOP senator in a series of tweets, which referenced the fact that Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants who came to the United States in 1956.
As part of the exchange, Schmidt tweeted that Rubio's parents were "looking for a better life like the hard working immigrants you have abandoned because you fear Trump and love your position." He went on to say, "Rubio is the type of man who would have stayed in Cuba in 59. He is the type of ambitious young man who would have sensed new opportunities. He is the type of man who would have gladly held Castro's coat if it helped him rise, just a little."
Rubio, Cruz and Scott all forcefully pushed back against Schmidt with Cruz calling the accusation "beyond the pale," Scott calling it "offensive and idiotic," and Rubio calling Schmidt "the type of washed up man who sensed new opportunities to make some $."
The Lincoln Project is a super PAC that has produced a steady stream of ads that slam Trump. Its website states that its mission is to "defeat President Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box."
The super PAC is overseen by Republicans and ex-Republicans. Schmidt is a vocal critic of Trump as well as a veteran of GOP campaigns, including John McCain's unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign. In 2018, he announced that he was leaving the Republican Party in the wake of the Trump administration's immigration policies that led to the separation of families.
At the time, Schmidt said that he was renouncing his membership in the Republican Party, which he described as "fully the party of Trump." He also declared himself an independent voter aligned with the Democratic Party.
Rubio responded to Schmidt on Tuesday, saying , "Schmidt is the type of man who turns to political prostitution. The type of washed up man who sensed new opportunities to make some $. The type of man who gladly supports a party with prominent members who sympathize with Castro because it helps him be relevant, just a little."
Scott, a Florida Republican senator, responded to Rubio, saying, "Marco is right. Steve Schmidt has always hated conservatives. His opinion is meaningless. Telling a Cuban-American leader like @marcorubio that he would have supported Castro is offensive and idiotic."
Cruz, a Texas GOP senator, tweeted in response to Schmidt, "Marco & I haven't always agreed, but to see him slandered by this oleaginous cretin is shameful. Schmidt wouldn't understand—he's spent his life serving, & then betraying, powerful men—but for those whose families suffered & bled under Castro's tyrannny, this is beyond the pale."
Schmidt fired back in response to Cruz, saying in part on Wednesday in a new series of tweets, "What a privilege it is to be able to address @tedcruz @marcorubio @SenRickScott all at once. It is no slander and the same criticism applies to you. Never has anything been so clear and obvious as the truth that both Rubio and you lack principle and courage. Trump has cruelly attacked your Wife, the Mother of your daughters and your Father. You debase yourself to maintain his favor for the low purpose of protecting your position and title. During this hour of crisis you could have stood up for American democracy, security and simple decency. You did not."
CNN's Fredreka Schouten and Jamie Ehrlich contributed to this report.
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As I've stated before.... as in physics... all political movement is relative.
Steve Schmidt is most definitely a conservative and located on the right side of the aisle. But given the movement to the far right where "The Q" are now accepted as mainstream, Steve and like minded traditional conservatives are labeled as RINOs
I know it won't give any of our current right wing NT members any pause to think about how far they have drifted away from traditional conservatism, but I can hope.
His criticism about Rubio, Scot, and Cruz are spot on target.
Never has anything been so clear and obvious as the truth that both Rubio and you lack principle and courage. Trump has cruelly attacked your Wife, the Mother of your daughters and your Father. You debase yourself to maintain his favor for the low purpose of protecting your position and title. During this hour of crisis you could have stood up for American democracy, security and simple decency. You did not."
The schism in the party is getting pretty wide, but I imagine a lot of public making nice again once the political pendulum starts swinging to the left.
In their quest for ideological purity, they have sewn the seeds that will make themselves irrelevant. They can't grow their base if they keep driving off traditional republicans.
The populists will be dropped by party donors as soon as they are no longer helpful. It has already started and I can guarantee that if Trump loses this fall, the group running in 2022 will look a lot more moderate than those running today.
I look forward to you being correct EG!
Me too.
so right on target and TRUE
The GOP are cruestatiands , backed into their own corner, by their OWN Spinelessness, as they deserve their earned demise. To put their party above OUR DAMN COUNTRY, is pathetically pitiful, and shows what Pussies, they and Trump Truly ARE
It's not ever party over country my friend...... They have put Trump over country, with everything else running a distant second.
Yup!
ted cruz = spineless dominionist anchor baby
marco rubio = billionaire rent-boy anchor baby
rick scott = rwnj white collar criminal POS
Rubio and Scott are my two senators. Sent emails to them about what's going on with the USPS. As expected, they have no interest in the topic even though it impacts every person in their state. Got to stay on Trump's good side you know.
The Lincoln project is a just a grift of progressives. It's former Republicans looking to cash a last paycheck by tacking hard left and producing twitter ads that progressives share amongst themselves. They'll make bank doing this, but the idea that anyone associated with this is somehow doing this out of some sort of principled desire to save the Republican party is incredibly ignorant. In some ways it's good they are targeting moderates like Susan Collins, it makes it crystal clear who they are working for, the hard left. Actual conservatives who object to Trump would support Biden and beg voters to elect moderates like Collins as a check on the hard left.
So the hard left is more than welcome to keep the money grubbing opportunists of the Lincoln Project. They'll fit right in.
Gee, Sean! It must really hurt, seeing the smartest Republicans jump ship.
It's a point of pride.... they aren't about to admit they've been wrong about Trump. Let's just get everyone to the polls, and vote Trump and his enablers into oblivion.
There are very different psychological profiles among Trump's supporters.
TrumpTrueBelieversTM literally disbelieve their own eyes, in favor of the Word of the Prophet. They will go down with the ship. We should probably worry about their sanity when they're confronted with... reality...
Then there are the Fellow Travelers (such as Mitch McConnell) who are perfectly conscious of Trump's (mis)behavior, but who have chosen to support the President for tactical reasons. These will abandon ship as soon as they calculate that continuing support for the President would be negative for them.
There is no one who is allied with Trump because they agree with his political philosophy. He has none.