The victories of two controversial Republican candidates left CNN host Jake Tapper wondering if the GOP is the party of “deranged bigots.”
During his show on Wednesday, Tapper asked his guest, former Republican Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, if he decided to endorse Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden because he believes the Republican Party has become too out of touch with reality.
“In the last week or so, two completely unhinged conspiracy theorists, both of them complete bigots as well, have won Republican congressional nominations, Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia in a Republican district and Laura Loomer in Florida in a district that leans Democratic,” Tapper said.
“President Trump has praised both of them. Gone out of his way to say positive things about these really unlikeable candidates in terms of the things that they say and do. Is it possible, congressman, is it possible that the Republican Party is now the party of deranged bigots, and there isn’t a place in it any longer for a Charlie Dent?” he asked.
Dent, who served in Congress from 2005 to 2018, said he chose to make his endorsement of Biden because of the successful campaigns led by Greene and Loomer. He noted that Greene has floated conspiracies about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and said she should have been “marginalized” by the party instead of praised by President Trump.
After winning her primary, Greene said that she is not a “QAnon candidate” but nevertheless has been scrutinized for her prior embrace of the conspiracy group known for believing that a group of sex traffickers has been working to take down Trump.
“[Greene is] a 9/11 truther, for Pete’s sake, and the president called this person a rising star. I mean, all this does is empower the whack jobs and the nuts to come out. And I think with strong leadership, we should be able to marginalize folks like that. And it’s really a sad state of affairs when the president endorses a 9/11 truther,” Dent said.
