Lies, Damned Lies, and Republican Intuition

On Fox News today, House Speaker Mike Johnson once again shared his marvelous “intuition.” You may remember that he insisted a few weeks ago that people are voting illegally, based not on any evidence, but on his intuition. Today he told  Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that, “we believe we have terrorist cells set up around the country.” When Bartiromo asked him to estimate the number of cells, he once again cited intuition over evidence: “I don’t know how it’d be conjecture on my part but intuitively we know that this is a serious problem.”

At the RNC, one Republican after another denounced immigrants and Democrats, claimed that crime is rising (it’s not), that the economy is failing (it’s not), that unemployment was lower under Trump (nope, wrong again), and that Democrats are responsible for the gunman who shot at Trump in Pennsylvania (he was a registered Republican.) 

If Republicans want to look for a crime wave, they could start with the RNC. Peter Navarro, just released from prison, was one of the speakers. Trump’s convicted (and pardoned) former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, was also present. And, of course, there’s the felon-in-chief, Trump himself, found guilty by a unanimous jury verdict on 34 felony counts. Lest we forget—back in 2021, Vice Presidential nominee J.D. Vance praised Kyle Rittenhouse for shooting and killing protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, saying his actions showed “basic manly virtue,” and that “we want to promote the types of virtues that exist in Kyle Rittenhouse.” 

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum denounced what he called the Biden administration “war on energy.” Funny thing about that—fossil fuel production soared under Biden. BP, Shell, Exxon, Chevron, and TotalEnergies doubled their profits in the first three years of the Biden administration, compared to the first three (pre-pandemic) years of the Trump administration. Production of both crude oil and natural gas hit record highs. Not that increased production is a good thing—but it’s a fact, and again shows Republicans relying on “intuition,” which less polite people might call deliberate, damned lies. 

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Speaker Johnson Joins Mornings With Maria Bartiromo, Fox News, 7/18/24

Johnson’s ‘intuition’ clashes with data on illegal voting, The Hill, 5/12/24

Takeaways from the third night of the Republican National Convention, CNN, 7/17/24

Peter Navarro, Released from Prison, Gives Fiery Convention Speech, New York Times, 7/17/24

J.D. Vance Praises Kyle Rittenhouse’s ‘Manly Virtue’: He ‘Made Good Decisions’ Instead of Staying Home Playing Video Games, Mediaite, 11/23/21

Biden’s Oil Boom, Reuters, 3/28/24