* Donald Trump, Jr. spoke at two Illinois locations on Friday. First up, Marni Pyke’s report from McHenry County…
[Donald Trump, Jr.] castigated “the weak Republicans” in Washington who vote with the Democrats. “Because they understand it’s easy to actually be a Republican in Washington … as long as (Democrats) know you will fold when it matters,” he added.
Also, “you want to fix Illinois? Fix our state party,” said former GOP state Sen. Darren Bailey, who warmed the crowd.
Bailey said he “couldn’t understand” why he lost to Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the 2022 election.
After a lot of “thinking and praying,” the downstate farmer said the answer was, “We have got to get rid of weak-kneed Republicans.”
Yeah, that’s the solution. Make the party smaller. But, hey, that’d work to his advantage in his congressional primary.
Pic…
* Rick Pearson at the Tribune…
Attending the event was last year’s unsuccessful GOP governor candidate, former state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia. Bailey is challenging incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of Murphysboro in southern Illinois and is seeking the former president’s endorsement, which he got late in last year’s GOP governor primary.
Bailey met with the elder Trump on Thursday at Mar-a-Lago, flew with Trump Jr.’s team to the event and was hosting him at a fundraiser in Effingham on Friday night.
Bailey said he expects to get the former president’s endorsement and told reporters that if the elder Trump is convicted on any of the charges he faces, “my opinion (of the former president) won’t change.”
Asked about three former Trump lawyers who agreed to plea deals in Georgia over charges of trying to subvert the election results, Bailey said, “What I see in government, anybody can be bought and paid for and opinions changed based on power and position.”
From Mar-a-Lago…
* Some local Effingham coverage…
The event featured State Representatives Chris Miller, Blaine Wilhour and Adam Niemerg, but the event was held on behalf of recent Republican gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey. Bailey is seeking the Republican nomination for the 12th District Congressional seat now held by Mike Bost. Bailey was critical of Bost, saying he is a career politician who wants to preserve the status quo in Washington. Bailey said, “We need to send a powerful message to career politicians that the only ticket they will be a part of is a ticket home.”
* Pic from the Effingham event…
Caption?
* Mike Bost is trying to keep up…
The Bailey campaign, however, says Bailey is also a Trump delegate.
- Demoralized - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 11:42 am:
==Bailey said he “couldn’t understand” why he lost to Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the 2022 election.==
This is what is wrong with the Republican Party in Illinois. They don’t care to look inward and figure out why it is they continue to be a super minority party in this state. They keep pushing the same ideas over and over and over when it’s clear from elections that people aren’t buying what they are selling. Maybe get a new message. And Darren Bailey ain’t that new message. He’s worse than the one Republicans have had.
- DuPage Saint - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 11:43 am:
I thought that Trump fundraiser was held in Addison which is definitely DuPage County. I thought it was funny that McHenry County Republicans would have a fund raiser in DuPage County. I guess McHenry just doesn’t have nice venues like DuPage
- Lamb - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 11:45 am:
DJTJ Shoes:”WHAT ARE THOSE!?”
- don the legend - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 11:46 am:
Demoralized, with respect but The Illinois GOP is just one big grift. As long as there’s still juice in the victim you keep grifting. Once it’s dried up they’ll find another host.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 11:47 am:
The goal of the exercise is not to win over policy and thoughts to party and governing.
The goal of the exercise is to convince as many cultists that the false idol is with one candidate over another by playing into insurrection apologists, racist thinkers, and don’t forget now with all the trials and martyrdom… conspiracy theorists…
It’s not a race about anything but zealots.
- Jerry - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 11:50 am:
Bay-lee did lots of thinking and praying. I wonder what his imaginary friend told him?
- Lurker - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 11:53 am:
The sad thing I get out of this post is that Bailey or Bost are going to win an election. Sadness.
- Ducky LaMoore - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 11:58 am:
Never in my wildest dreams did I think there was a human being that could make Mike Bost look stately and reasonable. For some reason, in a Republican primary, that is a bad thing.
- Lordy lordy - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 12:00 pm:
Everyone is just supposed to forget that Darren Bailey abandoned Trump last year during the general election campaign, right after begging for and getting Trump’s endorsement in the gubernatorial primary. Recall for example whenever JB would attack Trump during the debates, Bailey never said a peep in Trump’s defense. Obviously Bailey’s braintrust told him he had to distance himself from Trump in the general because Trump is unpopular in Illinois. Never mind that Bailey was going to lose miserably in any case. But now that he’s running in a dark Red district he’s all of a sudden a big Trump supporter again. Mike Bost is no prize to be sure but I do wish the Trump folks would wake up and realize what a fair weather opportunist Darren Bailey really is.
- vern - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 12:04 pm:
=== Yeah, that’s the solution. Make the party smaller. ===
It’s the only thing they’ve tried the last few years, and hasn’t worked yet. At some point ILGOP is gonna have to choose between trying to win votes and disbanding. I’m not convinced they’ll take door number 1 even then.
- Suburban Mom - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 12:16 pm:
===They don’t care to look inward and figure out why it is they continue to be a super minority party in this state. They keep pushing the same ideas over and over and over when it’s clear from elections that people aren’t buying what they are selling.===
They can’t, because the GOP is now so tied up with the Christian right that it’s become a God-ordained message tied in with their religious beliefs. If they admit it isn’t working, they’re saying God isn’t omnipotent. That God is weak, God can’t win elections, and the Gospel can’t change hearts and minds.
So they’re going to keep on selling the same stuff until either the national party collapses or the fundamentalist evangelical religious-industrial complex collapses and the cash dries up.
- The Ford Lawyer - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 12:18 pm:
Bailey can’t understand why he lost, and that is Exhibit 1 in why he should not be a statewide candidate ever again.
- Jocko - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 12:28 pm:
== get rid of weak-kneed Republicans.==
So I’m to understand you didn’t lose because your ideas ran counter to Illinois voters but because members of your party were yellow-bellies?
- Left of what - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 12:31 pm:
Going out on a limb that bailey ran for statewide in part to get name ID up for this race since it’s one he can actually win
- Joe Bidenopolous - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 12:50 pm:
So, Bailey paid for that Jr. appearance, right? i mean, those people don’t do anything for free, even endorsing. What are the chances that the fundraiser didn’t cover the appearance fee?
- The Truth - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 12:53 pm:
Gerrymanders allows these insane people to easily become elected to the House of Representatives, with no chance of losing re-election unless a new even-crazier challenger appears to out-crazy them in the primary election.
- Sir Reel - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 12:53 pm:
Bailey and his ilk secretly want to be career politicians. To get there they stake out a red district and out Trump their opponents. As others have said they don’t care about policy, they don’t care about America, they just want a job where they can trash talk on Fox News, use their Fox News notoriety to raise campaign money and act important with a do nothing job.
- ArchPundit - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 1:15 pm:
See, you all laugh at him, but if we had just elected Patrick O’Malley in 2002 we wouldn’t need to keep purging the moderates /s
- Rudy’s teeth - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 1:23 pm:
The picture from Effingham with Don Jr. and Darren Bailey…finally Darren’s mouth is shut and he’s not showing off his teeth.
Glad that Darren has a full set of teeth; we just don’t need to see the teeth in every photo op.
- OneMan - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 1:32 pm:
A decent part of me really believes him when he says that. I can see how both his worldview and those he likely spends time with lead him to fail to understand a different point of view when it comes to various issues. I remember reading more than one book about the 1972 election when Nixon won, where people were shocked that he did because everyone they knew had voted for McGovern. I don’t see Baley spending much time with folks who do not have his viewpoint on social issues and other issues as well.
I am not going to address how he got to this conclusion.
But, I have to say I see part of this quite a bit in football.
There are a few games every year I officiate where a team is losing, and all of a sudden, they find a play or two that works (usually a trap), and they start getting some yards off of it. It’s the same kid running the same play, and it’s 4 or 5 yards a pop. They do that for a bit and then stop. The one thing they have is working for them, and they stop doing it. I don’t know if it’s because the coach would rather pass or run different plays or what, but the one or two things that were getting yards for them they give up on.
It seems the same thing with the Illinois GOP at this point. You can look at who has had success in the GOP at the statewide level or almost had success, the folks who at least kept it close over the last 30 years, and the current party faithful have decided those are not the type of candidates they want running.
It’s like a football team that decides they will run the option no matter what, regardless of the athletes they have or if the other teams have figured out how to defend it. We are an option team and will run the option even if we end up 0-9.
There has been historically a type of Republican candidate who has a chance at success in Illinois, and Baley is not that candidate in any way, shape, or form. That may be hard for him to hear and hard for him to accept, but it is what it is.
- 48th Ward Heel - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 1:40 pm:
“A farmer from Southern Illinois? Yeah, I’m gonna need three more Red Bulls.”
- JoanP - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 1:59 pm:
= if they admit it isn’t working, they’re saying God isn’t omnipotent. That God is weak, God can’t win elections =
Or, even worse, that God was not on their side.
- Huh? - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 2:01 pm:
Caption?
I thought it was funny. Must have been caught up in the filters.
- low level - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 2:03 pm:
Dear Mr Bailey, the reason you lost is because you are bat —- crazy. The end.
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 2:19 pm:
“Bailey said he “couldn’t understand” why he lost to Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the 2022 election.”
“Real America” can’t understand how other people’s views matter, and how there can be more of their political opponents in Illinois and the entire country. These are the real elites, who see their political opposition as “lesser than” and not really American. There is no intra-party opposition to this, by moderate Republicans. They’re loathed as much if not more than Democrats by the MAGA base.
- James - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 2:27 pm:
Darren Bailey doesn’t like Country Music.
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 2:47 pm:
===Bailey said he “couldn’t understand” why he lost to Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the 2022 election.===
That is certainly on brand for MAGA Republicans.
=== Bailey met with the elder Trump on Thursday at Mar-a-Lago, flew with Trump Jr.’s team to the event and was hosting him at a fundraiser in Effingham on Friday night.===
I’m going to guess he “flew with Trump Jr.’s team” because he was paying for the trip.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 4:10 pm:
===Everyone is just supposed to forget that Darren Bailey abandoned Trump last year during the general election campaign, right after begging for and getting Trump’s endorsement in the gubernatorial primary. Recall for example whenever JB would attack Trump during the debates, Bailey never said a peep in Trump’s defense. Obviously Bailey’s braintrust told him he had to distance himself from Trump in the general because Trump is unpopular in Illinois. Never mind that Bailey was going to lose miserably in any case. But now that he’s running in a dark Red district he’s all of a sudden a big Trump supporter again. Mike Bost is no prize to be sure but I do wish the Trump folks would wake up and realize what a fair weather opportunist Darren Bailey really is.===
Narrator: The cult is gonna cult.
The lesson is it’s about worshiping the false god and never abandoning the cult leader.
Whew.
- low level - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 4:29 pm:
Don Jr- what is with those shoes, bro? Sheesh.
- Big Dipper - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 6:41 pm:
== get rid of weak-kneed Republicans.==
We were rejected in a landslide for being too extreme so let’s get more extreme. You couldn’t write fiction this crazy.
- Big Dipper - Monday, Oct 30, 23 @ 7:02 pm:
==Don Jr- what is with those shoes, bro? Sheesh.==
Maybe Aubrey O’Day influenced his fashion sense.