Login
It’s no secret that Congress is highly unpopular with the American people. For years, it consistently has ranked near the bottom of U.S. institutions. This month’s Gallup/Newsweek poll put its disapproval at 80%.
But how about its leaders?
Veteran pollster and TV host Scott Rasmussen, president of RMG Research, surveyed 2,000 registered voters last week to see how Congress’ four party leaders stack up.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the longest-serving party leader in the chamber’s history, fares the worst with a 58% unfavorable rating. His counterpart, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., comes in at 43%.
On the House side, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., the newest of the four congressional leaders, has a 31% unfavorable rating compared to 26% for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
More than 1 in 5 voters (22%) say they never heard of Johnson, while nearly one-third (31%) say they haven’t heard of Jeffries.
All four congressional leaders have a higher unfavorable rating than favorable.
Rasmussen also asked voters about President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, neither of whom received positive marks. Disapproval was higher for Biden, at 57%, compared to Harris, who has a 53% unfavorable rating.
Biden’s numbers have hovered around the same mark for months, although they are slightly better today than a few months ago, according to Rasmussen’s tracker.
The president ended last year with a 61% disapproval rate. Harris’ approval, meanwhile, cracked 40% for the first time in nearly a year.
Among the congressional leaders, Johnson’s favorable rating is 29% compared to 31% unfavorable. Jeffries is viewed favorably by 24% of voters compared to 26% unfavorable.
Schumer has a 32% favorable rating and 43% unfavorable rating. McConnell, who tops the charts with a 58% unfavorable rating, is viewed favorably by 23%.
RMG Research’s survey of 2,000 registered voters was conducted April 22 to 25 as Congress was considering a $95 billion foreign aid package. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
The post Can You Guess the Most Unpopular Leader in Congress? appeared first on The Daily Signal.
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—President Joe Biden’s efforts to deflect blame for the border crisis and high cost of living aren’t working with swing voters, according to new polling from Echelon Insights.
An even higher percentage view his administration as a failure.
The survey of 2,401 registered voters in six battleground states—shared exclusively with The Daily Signal—reveals key insights about swing voters, a segment of the U.S. population who aren’t strongly aligned with either political party.
Asked to rate the Biden administration, 65% of swing voters described it as a failure. A majority of Hispanic men, young voters (18-35), and married women also give the Biden administration a failing grade.
The poll finds 59% of swing voters blame Biden’s policies for the crisis at the southern border, compared with 23% who say it’s due to factors outside of his control, while 18% are unsure or don’t view it as a problem.
On the issue of inflation and the high cost of living, 51% of swing voters blame Biden’s policies. According to the survey, 37% think the problem is outside of Biden’s control, while 13% are unsure or don’t view it as a problem.
Of the issues surveyed, violent crime is the only one that a majority of swing voters don’t blame on Biden’s policies. In that specific case, 38% attribute a rise in crime to Biden, compared with 39% who think it’s not his doing.
These issues are regularly cited as Americans’ top concerns. They are also contributing to a gloomy outlook on America’s future and have resulted in Biden’s dismal disapproval rating.
Echelon Insights conducted the survey for The Heritage Foundation in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
When asked about the 2024 presidential election, swing voters give former President Donald Trump higher marks on America’s biggest issues: addressing immigration and border security, ensuring a strong U.S. economy, maintaining world peace, bringing down the high cost of living, keeping their families safe, supporting the middle class, instilling confidence in America, and protecting rights and freedoms.
Biden outperformed Trump on just two issues: health care costs and student loan debt.
Trump’s dominance on a wide range of policy issues translates into a strong showing in five of the six states where the survey was conducted. Trump leads in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Biden had the edge in Wisconsin.
A whopping 73% of swing voters in those six states disapprove of Biden’s job performance, compared with 40% for Trump. In each of the individual states, Trump holds the advantage.
When asked to rate a conservative governing agenda compared against a liberal agenda, swing voters in all six states favored a plan that grows the economy, reduces the cost of living, cuts government spending, secures the border, and implements tougher penalties for violent criminals.
The conservative agenda performed best in Michigan, followed closely by Georgia.
Swing voters cited the high cost of living as a major concern, worrying about the economic future of their kids, ability to save for retirement, and the cost of health care.
With a national debt of more than $34 trillion and government spending exploding on Biden’s watch, these voters are more receptive to spending cuts than other ideas such as combating corporate greed and junk fees or increasing taxes on wealthy Americans.
On the issue of border security, swing voters are more likely than the overall population to worry about social services being stretched thin. They also cite drug trafficking and rising crime as problems connected to the massive influx of illegal aliens.
Some of the Trump administration’s priorities—instituting the Remain in Mexico policy, completing the U.S.-Mexico border wall, and closing the southern border to asylum seekers—rate positively among swing voters.
The survey also asked swing voters about education and the role of parents. By a significant margin, 63% to 30%, they think parents are in the best position to address controversial issues, such as sexuality, with their children.
Echelon Insights conducted the survey March 12-19 among approximately 400 voters in each of the six states. It has a margin of error of +/-2.3 percentage points overall.
The post Swing Voters Deliver Harsh Verdict: Biden Administration Is a Failure appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Rep. Austin Scott, a Republican from Georgia who has criticized conservatives and is campaigning actively against the House Freedom Caucus chairman, is Speaker Mike Johnson’s choice for a newly vacant seat on the powerful Rules Committee.
Scott’s selection Wednesday infuriated conservatives on Capitol Hill. The Daily Signal spoke with several lawmakers and staffers whose reactions ranged from shock to disappointment that Johnson, R-La., would pick someone who is openly trying to unseat one of the House’s most prominent conservatives.
“This the wrong person for the wrong role at the wrong time,” a Republican member of Congress told The Daily Signal.
By picking Scott for the Rules Committee, one of the oldest and most powerful in the House of Representatives, Johnson revealed whom he trusts to determine floor activity and advance the speaker’s agenda.
“It’s hard to see Johnson’s move here as anything except needing an attack dog against conservatives,” said a former Republican staffer, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “You get the impression he’s going to use Austin Scott to help as a blockade on the Rules Committee and throughout the [Republican] conference. That’s the signal it sends.”
Johnson’s staff acknowledged The Daily Signal’s request for comment, but did not provide a response.
Scott, a close ally of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., sought the speaker’s job in October in an ill-fated run against Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
At the time of McCarthy’s ouster as speaker, Scott issued a statement calling the eight members who voted to remove McCarthy “nothing more than grifters who have handed control of the House to the Democratic Party in the name of their own glory and fundraising.”
Scott continued, “There is nothing principled about what they did, and Republican leadership will have to decide to either hold these members accountable or lose the faith of the rest of the conference.”
Months later, he took aim at one of the eight in particular: Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. Scott donated to Good’s primary challenger, John McGuire, in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. Last month, Scott was a featured guest at a McGuire fundraiser.
Despite Scott’s actions, Johnson handpicked him for a coveted seat on the powerful Rules Committee.
“Speaker Johnson keeps saying, ‘We’re on the same team, knock it off, please stop this.’ But he’s not actually doing anything to stop it,” a Republican staffer told The Daily Signal. “Now, Austin Scott, one of the guys who started this civil war on the primary campaign trail, is put on the Rules Committee. The speaker isn’t ending the war, he’s escalating it by rewarding people going after conservatives.”
And while Scott’s public actions have revealed his contempt for conservatives, lawmakers and staff said he is even more hostile to them in private settings.
“He’s got a short fuse and a hot temper,” another Republican member said of Scott. “Quite honestly, he doesn’t have the temperament to be a legislator.”
Scott’s communications director declined to make him available for an interview with The Daily Signal and instead pointed to his brief statement on X.
It is our sworn duty as members of Congress to govern, and I look forward to serving on the Rules Committee to help advance legislation that benefits the American people.
— Rep. Austin Scott (@AustinScottGA08) April 11, 2024
Known as the “speaker’s committee,” the Rules Committee includes nine Republicans and four Democrats. One of those seats became vacant this week when Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., won the gavel for the House Appropriations Committee.
Two members of the House Freedom Caucus—Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Chip Roy, R-Texas—currently serve on the Rules Committee with another conservative-leaning member, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. Their three votes, combined with four Democrats, are enough to sink the speaker’s plans.
After years of being shut out of the Rules Committee—and any semblance of negotiation over its membership—conservatives scored seats on the panel as part of a deal with McCarthy, resulting in his election to speaker in January 2023.
Unlike when McCarthy negotiated with members, Johnson instead moved swiftly without consulting conservatives about Scott’s selection.
“It is the speaker’s committee, and he can do whatever he wants with it. But in a one-seat majority, there should be a conversation,” a GOP staffer told The Daily Signal. “You talk to people about who’s interested, who might be a good fit, who might be a productive addition on the Rules Committee.”
A former Republican staffer described it as a curious move on Johnson’s part.
“You already have conservatives angry at you for a variety of reasons,” the former staffer said. “You have a one-seat majority. You have a pending motion to vacate [the speaker]. It’s not exactly the time to poke the bear.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., filed a motion to vacate March 22, but has not yet forced a vote. If it’s successful, Johnson would lose the speaker’s job, just as McCarthy did before him.
“Speaker Johnson lives in peril every day for his job depending on what he does,” a Republican member said. “It’s a dicey situation. It appears to me that there are other candidates who are interested in being speaker in the new term.”
Since joining Congress in 2011, Scott has focused his attention on serving the rural Georgia district he represents. He is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, the Armed Services Committee, and the Agriculture Committee. He has a lifetime score of 77% on Heritage Action’s Scorecard.
Scott also has developed a reputation among conservatives on Capitol Hill, according to lawmakers and staff who spoke to The Daily Signal.
“Austin Scott is a hothead, a notorious hothead,” a Republican staffer said. “He frequently loses his temper inside conference meetings with other members. He’s threatened, berated, cursed out members.”
Scott’s decision to endorse Good’s primary opponent, therefore, didn’t necessarily come as a surprise. However, it did anger conservatives, particularly because Johnson has privately counseled GOP members not to engage in primaries between fellow Republicans. The speaker recently made another appeal at GOP lawmakers’ retreat last month in West Virginia.
“Austin Scott endorsed Bob Good’s primary challenger, attended a fundraiser with him,” a Republican staffer said. “Mike Johnson, repeatedly for several weeks, has lectured the conference about what he calls the hot war on the campaign trail with primaries against incumbent Republicans. The moderates started this by going after Bob Good.”
Good, who boasts a 99% lifetime score on Heritage Action’s Scorecard, joined the House in 2021 after knocking off an incumbent Republican. He took over as chairman of the House Freedom Caucus in January.
Scott is one of at least six House Republicans who are backing Good’s opponent. Others include House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Reps. Jen Kiggans, R-Va.; Ryan Zinke, R-Mont.; Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis.; and Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas.
“Conservatives were appealing to the speaker to end the civil war before it got out of hand,” a Republican member told The Daily Signal. “And when he refused to, we let everyone know that we’re not going to take all the casualties.”
That’s led some conservative members to make their own endorsements against moderate Republicans.
Good, for example, is backing GOP challenger Derrick Evans in West Virginia’s 1st District against incumbent Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., a leader of the moderate Republican Main Street Caucus. Its affiliated PAC, the Republican Main Street Partnership, is actively spending money against Good.
Notably, Johnson has withheld his own endorsement from Good, whose primary election is June 18. A spokesman for the speaker’s political operation did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.
The post Speaker Johnson’s Choice for Key House Committee Sparks Backlash appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Caught on camera making disparaging remarks about the Chicago Fire Department, Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., now says he “did not mean to offend” the brave men and women who serve the city.
In a statement posted to X on Tuesday night, Jackson said he was simply trying to “shed light on the need for diversity, training, and equipment upgrades within the Chicago Fire Department.”
A video of Jackson, uncovered Monday by the X account Chicago Contrarian, originally was posted on Instagram by the Black Fire Brigade, a nonprofit group based in Chicago.
This is Rachel Maddow-level bonkers conspiracy mongering.
— Chicago Contrarian (@ChicagoContrar1) April 8, 2024
U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson is propagating a malevolent conspiracy theory which alleges white CFD respond differently to South and West Side fires as a method of exacting revenge for having "to leave" the neighborhoods in… pic.twitter.com/GuFZRabSu4
In the video, Jackson, son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a liberal political activist for decades, accuses white firefighters of providing an inferior response to fires in certain parts of the city because of their racial makeup. He says these firefighters are “angry” after being displaced from their former neighborhoods.
“When there is a fire, they go there and watch the building burn,” Jackson tells the audience as it responds disapprovingly. He then cites the city’s predominantly white North Side.
“Go to the North Side. If you see 16 units, 25 units in a building, they go and put out the fire in the single unit. We have a fire in a single unit and the whole building gets evacuated,” Jackson continues. “Because we didn’t have people that lived in the community, that cared about the community, that wanted to put the fire out. They had so much contempt, they let the building burn.”
In the video, Jackson concludes his remarks with a plea: “We need more black first responders, we need more black firefighters.”
Shortly after the video was posted on X, Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2 issued a lengthy response condemning Jackson’s language and revoking its political endorsement of the Democrat congressman.
CFD Local 2 has responded to the comments delivered by Rep. Jonathan Jackson.
— Chicago Contrarian (@ChicagoContrar1) April 8, 2024
Contrarian applauds Local 2 for its swift condemnation of Mr. Jackson's sickening and ignorant remarks. pic.twitter.com/wn8lkMnvYT
“These comments propagated on social media are not only patently false and maliciously divisive—they are dangerous to our membership,” the union’s executive board wrote in a statement issued Monday. “Local 2 firmly demands Congressman Jackson publicly renounce his comments and issue our membership an apology.”
The union also called on Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt to denounce “this hateful rhetoric and unwarranted attack.”
More than 24 hours after the union’s response to the video, Jackson issued his own three-paragraph statement on X but stopped short of an apology.
In his Tuesday post, Jackson wrote: “My pledge is to help, not harm. I promise to raise awareness of the needs and challenges Chicago firefighters face every day. I will continue to make clear and emphasize why diversity within the ranks of the fire department is so important and why providing better training and tools is crucial.”
I have great respect and admiration for our First Responders – our Chicago Firefighters. I want to acknowledge your sacrifice and thank you for the years of friendship and service. I sincerely did not mean to offend. My intent was to shed light on the need for diversity,…
— Rep. Jonathan L. Jackson (@rep_jackson) April 9, 2024
Jackson also recounted the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Lewis v. Chicago, a 2010 case involving the Chicago Fire Department’s hiring practices. The congressman contended that, even today, “black firefighters continue to call attention to alleged ongoing workplace discrimination regarding hiring and advancement.”
Jackson isn’t the only Chicago politician to make race-based accusations against the city’s fire department.
Two other videos, posted Tuesday on X by Chicago Contrarian, show city Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor making comments of her own while flanked by Alderwoman Pat Dowell and Aldermen Lamont Robinson and David Moore.
Flanked by Alds. Dowell, Robinson, and Moore, here is Ald. Jeanette Taylor openly stoking racial antagonism.
— Chicago Contrarian (@ChicagoContrar1) April 10, 2024
In the first video, Taylor accuses CFD of distributing new equipment only to white CFD personnel and claims black CFD personnel receive second-hand equipment.
In the… pic.twitter.com/yKAn7MItQY
In the first video, Taylor asks the audience: “Did you know that firefighters’ equipment only lasts five years, but they give the black firefighters the 3-year-old equipment? They never get the new equipment.”
The department provides new equipment to firefighters upon starting and replaces equipment on a regular schedule, contrary to Taylor’s assertion. It does not hand down equipment.
She also asserts that white firefighters have special access to the Chicago Fire Department’s promotional exam while black counterparts are left to fend for themselves.
“They’ve got a secret club, they hand out the test to them, but we ain’t invited,” Taylor said. “We actually have to do the work.”
A spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department, asked about the allegations of Jackson and Taylor, rejected them in a statement to The Daily Signal.
“The Chicago Fire Department is aware of recent claims regarding our department,” spokesman Larry Langford said. “We want to assure the public that these allegations are inaccurate and do not reflect the values or actions of our dedicated members. The Chicago Fire Department remains committed to serving and protecting our communities with integrity and professionalism.”
The Daily Signal contacted both Jackson and Taylor for comment but has not heard back.
The post Chicago Firefighters Union Revokes Endorsement After Rep. Jackson’s Allegations appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Tim Murtaugh became a familiar face to many Americans as President Donald Trump’s communications director for his 2020 reelection campaign. As one of Trump’s most visible spokesmen, Murtaugh had a front-row seat to the most-watched campaign in history.
But just a mere four years earlier, Murtaugh found himself in a much different spot. After struggling with alcoholism for years, he was jailed in 2015 for public drunkenness and unsure of his fate. That’s when he decided to give up alcohol and focus on turning his life around.
Murtaugh would go on to work for Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue before joining Trump’s reelection campaign. Today, he’s running his own communications firm. He joined “The Daily Signal Podcast” to talk about his new book—out today—called “Swing Hard in Case You Hit It: My Escape from Addiction and Shot at Redemption on the Trump Campaign.”
Listen to the interview, watch the video, or read an abridged and edited transcript below.
Rob Bluey: Tim Murtaugh, you’re the author of a new book, “Swing Hard in Case You Hit It.” You’re somebody who our Daily Signal audience will probably remember as a return guest to this show. You’re the founder and principal at Line Drive Public Affairs and the former communications director for the Trump 2020 campaign.
Tim Murtaugh: Good to see you, Rob. Thanks very much. And there was a time where I was a visiting fellow at The Heritage Foundation as well.
Bluey: We appreciate your contributions during that time. And I’m thankful to you for telling this story. Take us back to in 2015. You are in a Fairfax County jail. It illustrates so much how far you have come in just a few short years.
Murtaugh: On May 16, 2015, I went out and as I liked to do at the time, got drunk. And at that time, I was charged with drunken public intoxication, something along those lines. I ended up in the Fairfax County Adult Correctional Center and that’s where I came to.
That day was different from many of the other times that I had been drinking too much because I was on probation for the second of my two DUIs, and I had 80 days of suspended jail time hanging above my head. And if I had gotten convicted of that public intoxication charge, I was going to have to go serve nearly three months in jail, and it would have been pretty much the end of everything. I would have lost my job on Capitol Hill. I would have lost my career.
My family was about at the end of their rope. My new wife didn’t know what to do with me, and so it really could have been the end of everything. And that’s the day I took my last drink, and I have never looked back.
I wrote this book for two reasons. One, because when I was in rehab—and I went to rehab five times—when I was there, I spent a lot of time in the bookstore buying titles and just devouring them. They were more autobiographical in nature, people writing about their own stories and how they made it through their battles with addiction. I wanted to write a book that helped people like me who are in rehab.
The other reason was, I had some opposition researchers coming after us on the Trump campaign. Back in 2020, they were trying to get reporters to write stories about me and my background. And I thought, if I just write a book about it myself, they’ll never be able to attack me with it again.
This is the story of my 2 lives – one with alcohol and one without. (Spoiler: one is better than the other.)
— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) January 26, 2024
Oh, and half of it is about politics & the 2020 Trump campaign.
It would be so kind if you’d take a moment, check it out & consider ordering:https://t.co/RIgo9dWk59
Bluey: Was it difficult for you to put it all out there?
Murtaugh: Writing it, actually, was cathartic. I’m not sure that there’s any single person who knows everything that I went through. My wife certainly knows a lot about it. My parents and my brother, my close friends and close relatives, know big parts of it. But I don’t know that anybody, except for me, knows everything else that I went through.
I’m coming up on nine years now since I took my last drink. And I know that any day I could slip and pick one up. If I had that first one, it would be a downward spiral from that moment. Writing the book was an exercise that helped me stay sober for that period of time.
When you have been an addict—and you’ve managed to defeat it—there is always that lingering fear that if I’m not careful this could come back and get me.
Bluey: What have you found to be effective in terms of resisting that urge?
Murtaugh: This is really just a story of how I did it. It’s not entirely about this. It’s half a political book, half about my life in the Trump 2020 campaign, which at the time, until this next one, was the most-watched political campaign in world history. There are a lot of stories from behind the scenes from that campaign.
But the other half of the book, it is about my struggles with alcoholism and my whole story. It is not a how-to book—it’s just a story of how I got through it.
>>> An Insider Takes You Behind Scenes of Trump’s Campaign
People might find some parts of it that they can relate to or at least laugh about because not every word of it is deadly serious. There are some ridiculous things that people like me do when they’re in the throes of all that. It shouldn’t be looked at as a how-to fix-it sort of manual—just how one guy got through it. That’s all it is.
Bluey: You work in a high-stress environment, political communications, and I would imagine being right there in the forefront on the Trump campaign was at the pinnacle of that. What were some of the ways you found to be effective in terms of keeping your mind on your work and not getting distracted by alcohol?
Murtaugh: There’s a lot of pressure in politics. It doesn’t matter if you’re on the presidential campaign, which I was, or on lower campaigns, which I have also done. Whether they’re races on the state level, congressional, Senate, governor’s races—it doesn’t matter. There’s varying amounts of pressure. It all seems like the most important thing in the world when you’re going through it.
It helps to stay busy for sure. I broke the day up into little chunks. Could I get out of bed and get dressed and get ready to go to work without having to stop for a drink? Could I get from home to the office without stopping to buy a drink? Could I make it through the day and not sneak out somewhere at noon? And then at the end of the day, can I make it all the way home without stopping somewhere to pick up a bottle or to stop and get a drink?
I relied a lot on Alcoholics Anonymous, going to meetings like that. I found using the Serenity Prayer, just helped me if I had a little storm going on in my brain and I was worried that maybe I was going to veer off to the side and do something that I shouldn’t do. Stopping for 15 to 20 seconds to say the Serenity Prayer really helped me sort of refocus and get back on the rails.
Books about Biden are not selling well, so maybe this will interest people.
— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) March 28, 2024
It’s not like any other political book you’ve ever read – it’s partly about the 2020 Trump campaign & partly about my battle with alcohol.
Order now for Tuesday’s release:https://t.co/RIgo9dWk59
Bluey: Family played a big part in your recovery. You come from a proud family. Your grandfather is Danny Murtaugh, the legendary manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, a two-time World Series champion. What role does family play for others who might be struggling with alcoholism?
Murtaugh: It’s a really big, very important part of it. My wife is a very private person and she doesn’t relish a lot of these details getting out—or any of them really. But in fact, a few years back, it was her idea to write this book. And if she had not been on board with it, I wouldn’t have done it. And the fact that she is on board, is an illustration of how important she has been to me throughout my entire recovery.
Without her, I think there’s no question that I would either still be in jail or I would be dead. I don’t think there’s any two ways about it. And my parents were very instrumental in guiding me to rehab and helping me.
Bluey: In 2015, you found yourself at a low point. Then, within a span of four years, you are the communications director for the most-watched presidential campaign in history. Did President Trump know about your circumstances and did others on the campaign know about what you were going through?
Murtaugh: I felt like it was my responsibility to tell them. I started on the Trump campaign in February 2019. It was about four years after I had already taken my last drink. However, I did have pretty checkered past and I did have a history with law enforcement. I had two DUIs, served five days in jail with some suspended time for the first one, served 10 days in jail with 80 days suspended for the second one. I also had a variety of different drunk in public and different public intoxication charges.
Opposition researchers, and anybody who looked into it, would find all that stuff in about 10 minutes. So there wasn’t any point in hiding it.
When I went to work in the Trump administration for Secretary Sonny Perdue—I was his communications director for two years before I went to the Trump campaign—I told Secretary Perdue up front as I was interviewing. And then when I was being considered for the Trump campaign, I told Brad Parscale, the campaign manager, that very same thing. I said, “You should look into this because this is what I’ve got in my past and the president needs to know this.”
At the time, Sonny Perdue said, “Listen, as long as you’re not drinking now, I really appreciate you telling me, you’re going to be fine.” And then Brad Parscale went and ran it past the president and came back and he said, “Look, the president likes a good redemption story. He likes a good comeback story.” He himself doesn’t drink because he blames alcohol for the death of his brother, but the president was aware of it. And Brad said, “You know what? You’ve conquered it, let’s move on. And if anybody comes after you, I’ll stand by you.”
And he did because a lot of reporters called us because they had gotten the material from the opposition researchers, and they were threatening to write stories. Brad stood by me, and the campaign stood by me, and the president stood by me.
None of those stories ever got written. We managed to talk them out of it and talk them into agreeing with us that that was in the past.
Bluey: Are there any resources that you would recommend to individuals who may be struggling with addiction right now?
Murtaugh: There is always going to be an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that you can find and get to. And they truly are welcoming. Anyone can walk in off the street and find people who understand what you’re going through. That helped me an awful lot.
If you need more than that, then find a way to check yourself into a 28-day program. An inpatient rehab program can do wonders for people. As for me, I went to rehab five times. So sometimes it doesn’t take right away.
I would hope that people pick up the book. It’s called “Swing Hard in Case You Hit It,” available on Amazon.com right now, or other retailers as well. I hope that they can find some humor in it, and also maybe find some way to look at it and say that I can relate to it.
Bluey: Tim Murtaugh, thanks so much for having the courage to share your story. We’re proud of all that you’ve accomplished.
Murtaugh: Rob, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
The post An Addict’s Shot at Redemption on the Trump Campaign appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Vaunce News 