The Republican hypocrisy is in full swing in Ron DeSantis’ state of Florida right now, as a new report from Business Insider just brutally exposed the Florida GOP’s disgusting double standards when it comes to children and the mere mention of sexuality, versus actually pedophiliac behavior.
High-ranking, key Republicans in the Red, Trump-loving state have spent the last several weeks absolutely slamming anyone who dares to criticize their so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill as “pedophiles” and groomers. The infamous, controversial bill is aimed at sex education for school-aged children and essentially outlaws the discussion of sexuality or gender identity by educators.
However, as these same high-ranking, key Republicans attack their critics as pedophiles and child groomers, Insider reports that several of them are happily accepting big money contributions and donations from the old campaign committee of a former Republican lawmaker who was accused of sending disgusting, sexually explicit messages and images to underage boys who were working as congressional pages.
Former Republican Rep. Mark Foley resigned from his West Palm Beach district seat in connection to the 2006 scandal, in which he allegedly sent numerous inappropriate and downright lewd messages and pictures to high school boys who were working under the House of Representative’s page program. But nevertheless, he has still forked out a whopping $118,250 in donations and sponsorship to the Palm Beach County Republican Party since 2010 via his defunct campaign committee Friends of Mark Foley for Congress.
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In fact, Foley’s most recent donation just took place in January, in the amount of $15,000, according to Insider’s analysis of filings from the Federal Elections Commission.
Insider attempted to contact the Republican Party of Palm Beach County, but the person who answered the phone said it was against their policy to discuss anything with the media and ultimately stated “there is no comment.” Michael Barnett, the organization’s chair, also did not respond to requests for comment.
But all the same, Foley was apparently welcomed into the organization with open arms, with the Palm Beach Republican Party even honoring him with a service award at its Lobsterfest dinner in Boca Raton in 2019, according to the Sun Sentinel.
Close Trump ally and insider Roger Stone actually delivered remarks at that event, calling Foley, a “great American patriot” and “a man who doesn’t need to apologize because let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
Insider notes, “Foley was not charged with a crime and said he never had sexual contact with the underage pages, who worked in the US Capitol aiding lawmakers and learning about the legislative process.”
You can read the full report here.
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0
