Orange County venue cancels Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene's planned America First rally

[mucifer]

A Laguna Hills event center canceled plans to host an “America First” rally on July 17 after learning the speakers were slated to be two of the most controversial Republicans in Congress: Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

“We just want to stay clear of that,” Javad Mirtavoosi, general manager of Pacific Hills Banquet & Event Center, said by phone Friday.

Greene’s campaign disputed that account of how the cancellation transpired. And they’re still selling tickets for a rally, though they’re still trying to find an Orange County venue for the same day.

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/07/09/orange-county-venue-cancels-matt-gaetz-majorie-taylor-greenes-planned-america-first-rally/

So sad.

[hookaleft]

1. However uncharacteristically the county went for Biden in 2020 nt

[SoCalDavidS]

11. It Started With Bill Clinton

It's become Purple since then. It's definitely more on the blue side than before, but the crazies haven't all gone away. Still plenty around to keep it purple rather than blue. But that's obviously a giant improvement from when it was solid red. I remember those days.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

18. Yup. Varied constituency. Lots of flipping too

https://www.ocregister.com/2020/11/13/how-did-your-neighborhood-vote-ballot-data-for-orange-county-reveals-curious-shifts-splits

[David__77]

13. Unfortunately some parts of it trended sharply toward Trump in 2020.

These were communities with concentrations of Latino and Vietnamese-American voters. Those areas still went against Trump, just not nearly so strongly as four years before. I suspect that it in part had to do with COVID restrictions and less Democratic door to door and in person campaigning.

[Blue Dawn]

2. I am pleasantly surprised.

I feel pretty encouraged that at least some people have the chutzpah to make a decision like this.

Good on them.

[RainCaster]

3. Whining begins about "cancel culture", or is it "incel culture"? nt

[DURHAM D]

4. Orange County in what state? nt

[mucifer]

5. California. It's an historically right wing area of California that is becoming more blue

[Brother Buzz]

15. Once home to the West Coast enclave of the The John Birch Society

Attrition and white flight has whittled down the numbers for decades. The purple districts are becoming bluer every year.

[marble falls]

6. OOOOHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOs! No worries, there's a biker bar somewhere that'll host 'em.

[erronis]

20. And lots of landscaping companies with BIGLY parking lots.

[marble falls]

22. That would be rich. Maybe they can get Rudy Giuliani to book it for them.

[Sibelius Fan]

7. Good. That event center is 10 minutes from my house.

Don’t need a couple of traitors showing up in my neighborhood.

[Takket]

8. why are the authorities allowing a child abuser to continue to walk around free?

[SoCalDavidS]

10. Because That's How Our Justice System Works

You or I would likely have been charged, booked and in prison.

He'll probably still be serving in Congress next year.

[Ford_Prefect]

19. He's connected and protected somewhere in the system or somewhere that has their phone numbers.

[IcyPeas]

24. Don Gaetz, his father

“Don has a lot of power and friends in Florida politics,” one Florida political operative said, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to anger the elder Gaetz. “There are a lot of people who owe him favors. They are repaying those favors by staying silent about his son.”

https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2021/04/17/matt-gaetzs-daddy-issues-1375630

[SoCalDavidS]

9. I Live 5 Minutes From This Venue

My ex girlfriend's parents used to live literally walking distance from it, before they passed.

I'm not sure of how big it is, or where exactly it's located in the shopping center. But it's basically a strip mall with a Big Lots, Polly's, Department Of Motor Vehicles location and some small local businesses. Chabad also has a unit there.

Part of me is kind of disappointed, as I would probably have gone down there to protest and witness all the crazies in attendance.

[jalan48]

12. These two have morphed from Congressional Reps into Reality TV Congressional Reps.

They spend more time on the road, (all over the US) than in their districts representing their constituents. Is this our new form of governance?

[riversedge]

14. They belong in a sack of sh**

**

Gaetz and Greene have been co-hosting America First rallies across the country since early May, when they kicked off the series in a Florida retirement community that heavily supported Trump in 2020.

Along with supporting the controversial former president and many of his policies, the pair have faced controversies of their own. Gaetz is under investigation for accusations of having a sexual relationship with a minor, while Green was booted from her House committees in February over her comments supporting far right extremists.

Earlier this year, both were linked to plans to create a political caucus that would espouse the idea that the United States is an “Anglo-Saxon” culture and that mass immigration is supplanting white culture — ideas previously espoused by white nationalists. Plans to start the caucus were dropped after negative public response and pushback from some in the GOP.

But Gaetz and Greene also have become firebrands for Trump-brand Republicanism, with their American First events in Arizona, Florida and other GOP-friendly states drawing substantial crowds. And Dyer said ticket purchases for the planned Orange County event have been “overwhelming.”....................................

[marble falls]

23. Bags of shit have their standards, too. Let those two find their own bags.

[AndyS]

16. I guess the county is trying to make up for having the name "Orange" 🤣

[nuxvomica]

17. "America First" should have been reason enough

Hasn't everyone caught on yet that that's a white nationalist rallying cry?

[PatSeg]

21. Is there a Four Seasons Total Landscaping

in the area? That might work nicely for a venue.

[Iggo]

25. I live in one of the bluest cities in one of the bluest counties in one of the bluest states.

Still, if I walk out the South side of my neighborhood, I'm in Orange County. (If I go to the end of my street and look South, I can see it.)

And it don't take long to feel like you're there once you get there, either.

EDIT: I guess what I'm trying to say is, even though I'm safely within the deep blue sea, it's a leisurely five minute walk to the place where they're trying to Fuck it all up.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

26. I bet they wind up in Huntington Beach.

Still too close for comfort.

I'm trying to remember if the former OC crazies in Congress were this crazy. Rohrabacher? Bob Dornan?

Obviously, Republican voters prefer unqualified crazies to educated do-gooders.