The problem with toxic people is not just the harm they do to themselves, but also the harm they do to their friends.
Democratic Alabama state Rep. John Rogers is a toxic person. He is not content to make national headlines with his shockingly frank endorsement of abortion as a means of controlling the population of supposedly undesirables. The state lawmaker is also trying to destroy U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., by claiming that he privately voiced support for his position.
“He called me twice. He told me, ‘John, I know you’re right, but I got to come out against you.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ I said, ‘Fine, if it’s going to help your campaign, do that,’” Rogers said in an interview this week with a local Birmingham radio station.
Jones, who is a longtime friend of Rogers and has even served as his attorney, has confirmed that the calls happened. You might expect him to deny Rogers’ claim that he said: “John, I know you’re right.” But he didn’t deny it.
Last Tuesday, as the Alabama state House prepared to pass the Human Life Protection Act, HB 314, Rogers protested the measure during a filibuster.
“You bring them in the world unwanted, unloved, you send them to the electric chair. So, you kill them now or you kill them later,” the Democratic lawmaker said. “Some parents can’t handle a child with problems. It could be retarded. It might have no arms and no legs.”
Later, after receiving no small amount of criticism from conservative and Republican figures, including Donald Trump Jr., Rogers defended himself by arguing that the president’s son is “retarded” and therefore “the best defense” there is “for an abortion – looking at him.”
As these scenes unfolded in the Alabama State Capitol, Sen. Jones publicly admonished his Democratic colleague, tweeting, “The rhetoric of Rep. John Rogers gets more appalling each time he speaks. He does not speak for the people of Alabama and is, in fact, offending all Alabamians with his crude and reprehensible comments.”
But Rogers claims that when the senator called to give a heads up that his office was about to issue a public rebuke, Jones also reportedly said he agreed with his Democratic colleague. In the first call, Jones reportedly said, “You’re killing me. You’re killing me. Stop talking.’ … He said he’d have to come out against me. I said, ‘Fine, do what you got to do,’” Rogers told the Birmingham News.
There was a second phone call, Rogers claims, but it was less pleasant than the first. The state representative says the second call upset him “so bad” that he is now mulling whether he should challenge Jones for the Senate in 2020.
In remarks to the Birmingham News, Jones confirmed there were indeed two phone calls. He did not, however, go into detail.
“I don’t comment on any potential opponents. I’m not going to engage in a verbal jousting match with John Rogers,” Jones said. “I called because I had to say something to publicly condemn his remarks.”
“I called a second time when he doubled down and started offending the disability community across the state,” the senator added. “A lot of people attacked John, but I’m the only one who called and gave him a heads up.”
In separate remarks to the Washington Examiner, Jones said of Rogers, “Look, we are just going to have to agree to disagree on this. I made my position clear. … There is already too much division in our politics, and I won’t add to it here. With that, that’s all I’m going to say on this matter.”
Do you see a denial for Rogers’ claim that Jones said, “John, I know you’re right”? Seems like that would be an easy thing for Jones to dispute. Unless he actually said it.
