Congressman Mike Kelly (R-Butler) found himself with his own “47%” moment over the weekend.
At the Mercer County Republican Pa Lincoln Day dinner over the weekend, Kelly said there is one reason former President Obama was staying in D.C.
“He is there for one purpose and for one purpose only. And that is to run a shadow government that is going to totally upset the new agenda,” Kelly said, according to Philly Clout.
You can view the video here:
Kelly has been rumored as a possible candidate for Governor, and campaigned with Trump at his western Pennsylvania events, says he was talking with Republicans and speaking to their frustrations.
“Rep. Kelly delivered his remarks to an audience of fellow Republicans in Mercer County last Saturday. He was sharing the frustration of everyone in the room over how they believe certain Obama administration holdovers within the federal bureaucracy are attempting to upset President Trump’s agenda,” Kelly’s spokesman Tom Qualtere said in an email.
Obama is staying in D.C. so his youngest daughter can finish high school.
This is the latest cautionary tale for candidates speaking to what they view as friendly rooms. In these rooms, candidates will say what they think a room wants to hear, which oftentimes is not what was scripted. These comments can set the narrative for an entire campaign.
Mitt Romney was haunted by his 47 percent comment in the 2012 Presidential election, that Democrats used against him for the rest of the campaign. Hillary Clinton had her basket of deplorables comment that Republicans used in the 2016 Presidential campaign.
The Democratic Party is likely to try to make these comments the same for Kelly.
“While Congressman Kelly is peddling conspiracies and alternate realities, people in the real world are concerned about real issues,” Pa. Dems Executive Director Sinceré Harris said in a statement.
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14 Responses
First, I find the name-calling in these comments reprehensible. Aspersions like the ones above really don’t reflect well on those making such comments. I also do not see why the harsh reaction to Rep. Kelly’s observation. Former President Obama has decided to stay in Washington and he, unlike some past presidents, will not stand idly by and let his programs be upended. Call it a shadow government or shadow cabinet or Obama Think Tank…of course he will want to trot out his experts to rebut things he disagrees with about President Trump’s agenda — meaning pretty much all of it. AND, if he’s lucky and the President loses re-election, there will be a ready-set-go transition.
“A fly on the foulest dung” describes the buzz around Mike Kelly.
I wish some SJW would disrupt the gibberish of one Seneca loony.
I think we can all be sure that were Kelly to hold a town hall meeting open to the public without any vetting, he’d get a real taste of the shadow goverment he warns us about. Soros-funded SJWs would be on it more surely and quickly than a fly on the foulest dung. He’d probably have to cancel beforehand. So much for the paragons of free speech on the left.
This is not to say Kelly or others warning us about a Shadow Government or Deep State or the like are wrong. Quite the contrary. That George Soros and his money minions are funding a tremendous amount of mischief is well-documented. But Kelly and others speaking against it need to present their case to the public absent hyperbole and exaggeration, and cite the evidence they have. Closed meetings are certainly not the best way. But neither are town halls where SJWs and other leftist hirelings can disrupt proceedings as they please.
Kelly is too big of a pussy to hold his own town hall meetings in person. He has them on the phone! He has no problem speaking in front of a room of “friendlies”, but when it comes time to face the electorate he cowers! What a pussified baby! What’s he know about “shadow governments”? Show us the proof tough guy!
Hey, Kelly, the “shadow government” is your corporation donors and their lobbyists.
Typical Alt Right member who is afraid of his shadow. Maybe if these old white men had served in the military, they would have a better grasp of reality, and have some leadership skills. Maybe.
More reasons from Mike Kelly himself to support the argument against him running from governor. His hyperbole and exaggeration, and general waste of everyone’s time, including his own, is unnecessary as the political skulduggery of Obama and his supporter is already well known and Kelly adds little to the already long list of sins of the previous administration.
This write-up is not one of PoliticsPA’s best as it mixed editorializing with reporting. It’s highly likely the staff could have found and cited (anonymously) someone in Mercer County not too impressed with Kelly’s theatrics, as an observer at the event.
Obama is all about globalization and UN Agenda 21 or 2030. Beware! He wants one world government.
Stupid is as stupid does…
Republicans are trash. They are very sick.
Full tilt boogie to the looney bin.
This is news?
Mike, please run for governor so our district doesnt have to put up with you anymore.