House GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has proven to be a loyal shill of President Donald Trump throughout the last few years that they have served alongside one another. When the Coronavirus crisis rolled in, McCarthy stuck right by the president, even though that meant initially jumping on board with a complete denial of the crisis that has now claimed the lives of over 83,000 Americans and counting. Air Force veteran and engineer Kim Mangone is running a Democratic challenge to McCarthy in the upcoming elections, and she insists in a recent interview that McCarthy is desperately politically vulnerable in light of issues like his brazen support for Trump-style racism.
In short, in the age of Trump, the “mask” has come off for a lot of Republicans who may have previously insisted that they were actually great, upstanding public figures. McCarthy has supported Trump through debacles like the punitive separation of children from their parents upon their arrival at the southern U.S. border, and more recently, he’s ludicrously insisted upon calling the Coronavirus “Chinese,” although assigning the pathogen some kind of nationality is just ridiculous.
Mangone insisted recently:
‘There are so many things that I’ll be running against him, but racism is definitely one of them. The comments he’s made and his total support for [Trump against] the people that are fleeing their nations in South America trying to get refugee status, and instead of figuring out and trying to help the situation, they want to stand around and make racist comments about it. And caged children, yes.’
And more recently, Republicans have put even more lives on the line with their adamant refusals to take the Coronavirus seriously. For weeks and months on end, Trump has tried to downplay the significance of the outbreak, and more recently, he’s switched to congratulating himself for a supposed job well done, no matter the tens of thousands of dead Americans.
McCarthy has stuck with Trump through the mess.
Mangone commented, in reference to the pandemic:
‘Their handling of it has been completely irresponsible and it has not taken into consideration any of the actual people living in this country… As a representative of the people it is your responsibility to stand up and say [something]. When you know that something’s wrong, it’s your responsibility to stand up and say it. The people have elected you, so the fact that you’ve turned your back on them and instead your sole focus is on Trump and what he’s saying, that’s not right.’
Mangone’s observations seem likely to reflect broader sentiments among voters. In increasing numbers, voters sharply disapprove of the president’s handling of the Coronavirus crisis, and concurrently, Trump’s poll numbers when pitted against Joe Biden continue to be dismal. Biden leads nationally and in crucial swing states, including so-called Rust Belt states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Trump’s sinking chances may drive down chances for Republicans across the board, who already lost big in the 2018 midterm elections when Democrats took control of the U.S. House.
