Former GOP Rep To Dems: 'Beat The Republicans. Beat Every Single One Of Them.'

By Aliza Worthington — August 6, 2019

Former Republican Representative from Florida, David Jolly, dropped the bluntest of truths on Deadline White House yesterday. After back-to-back mass shootings over the weekend, the third mass shooting in the span of a week, Jolly had the most emotional and brutal assessments of his former political party. Nicolle Wallace expressed appreciation for Beto O'Rourke's response to a reporter's inane, predictable question about the domestic terrorist slaughtering 22 now in El Paso, and his calling out the media for asking questions to which they already knew the answer. But Jolly's evaluation went further.

Jolly acknowledged this was a chance for the candidates to be authentic and show what kind of leader they'd be. But he does not want us to forget the REPUBLICANS' role in this. Their inaction. Their silence.

JOLLY: I find myself today offering the same insight I did at the night of the Parkland shooting a few hours from our home in Florida, which is this: Republicans will NEVER do anything on gun control, nothing, EVER. They won't. Think about Las Vegas. They did nothing when 500 people were injured. The Pulse nightclub, 50 killed. The question for the nation was, do we allow suspected terrorists to buy firearms? Republicans did nothing. Parkland, they did nothing. Emanuel AME in South Carolina, nothing. Go to Sandy Hook in Connecticut, nothing. Jewish temple in Pittsburgh, nothing. Jewish temple in San Diego, nothing. Sutherland Springs, evangelical church in Texas, nothing. Now you have Texas, now you have Ohio in the same weekend and all we get is silence. I say that because if this is the issue that forms your ideology as a voter the strength to draw in this moment is to commit to BEATING Republicans, BEAT them. Beat every single one of them. Even the safe ones in the House, BEAT them. Beat them in the SENATE. Take back the Senate.

Well, YEAH. We need to beat these mother f*ckers at the ballot box all the way down to the school board and city council level. And HELL, YEAH, Republicans will never, ever do anything about guns. Jolly was dropping truth bombs absolutely everywhere. But it was just something different hearing it from a just recently-defected member of the GOP. Wallace couldn't help but agree, noting, "You take my breath away with your bluntness. But you're not wrong. No Republican has ever been moved by any of those tragedies."

Jolly then issued the directive so many of us have been begging of at least ten of the 20-ish Democratic candidates running for president.

JOLLY: And in the Senate, take back the Senate. If you're a presidential Democratic candidate right now who has the opportunity to win a pivotal Senate race, DROP OUT of the presidential race and win back the Senate for the party that will DO something on this. When the Democratic party finds their nominee, beat Donald Trump. Beat him. Get a change there.

Then he ended with a warning for Republicans that is already coming true.

JOLLY: All I can ever think of in this moment when I see Republicans do absolutely nothing is, your time is coming. My mom likes to say, "The wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind increasingly and exceedingly fine." That's what is happening to a lot of Republican political careers in moments like this.

Their time is coming, indeed. The twelfth House Republican just announced his retirement. Rep. Kenny Marchant of Texas will not run again in 2020, and Texas is fast becoming the biggest swing state in the nation. Marchant is the third Texas Republican to step down.

As much as Nicolle Wallace loves O'Rourke's authenticity, and his challenge to the media, David Jolly may have been sending him a very different message about what his next steps should be. Remember. Nothing gets done without the Senate.