The Republican Party Of Texas Falls Off The Rails As Nazigate Explodes

The line in the sand has been drawn. Team colors have been picked. It's going to get ugly.

The House and Senate both gaveled in today. Nothing exciting happened on the Senate side. They held a hearing on teacher pay raises. That passed and was voted out to the full Senate. The bill offers several things. It’s better than nothing, but nowhere near what Democrats were asking for.

In the House, they gaveled in and passed a bipartisan resolution about Texas standing with Israel. It passed 147-0. They were wrapping up and scheduling to meet on Thursday for the first reading of bills (which will probably be heard in committee next week) when ol’ Mr. Tony Tinderholt made his way to the back mic to ask Speaker Phelan some questions. Check it out:

Tinderholt’s parliamentary inquiries concerned an audit for Ken Paxton’s impeachment cost, which Tinderholt and some others on the far-right requested a few weeks back. The Speaker was having none of it. In Tinderholt’s last inquiry, he asked, “Is the House dragging its feet because they’re afraid that the impeachment may exceed the $3 million that allegedly started the sham impeachment in motion?”

Immediately, you can hear the gasps in the “ooos” of the other House members.

Phelan responded, “Mr. Tinderholt, your question is out of line.”

It was quite a stunning moment, but also interesting because for weeks, Tinderholt, Brian Harrison, and Steve Toth have hinted and insinuated that a motion would be brought forth to vacate the Speaker. The Republican base has been chattering about how that would happen today. I even speculated it would be either Tinderholt or Harrison.

You can imagine how many people were on the edge of their seats when Tinderholt approached the back mic. What he said was so dumb and confrontational. It’s like he only said it to get the air time or maybe to show the rabid base “he’s really fighting.”

I can guarantee you this: even if Phelan is gone, Tinderholt will never get another bill passed in his legislative career.

Phelan and Patrick have spent the last month fighting about the impeachment. They aren’t even on speaking terms.

If you missed my last update about their spat, you can read it here. But in a nutshell, Dan Patrick has been making media rounds, defending the $3 million he took from the Defend Texas Liberty Pac and saying the Senate Hearings were fair and impartial. He also had some strong words for Phelan and criticized his leadership and judgment.

Phelan has responded in kind, calling Patrick *basically* corrupt, bashing the $3 million he got from the pro-Paxton crowd. The Speaker has defended the House and impeachment and flat-out called Ken Paxton a dirty, corrupt politician.

So, what Tinderholt did today was not only side with the Defend Texas Liberty PAC crew, he called 121 House members liars and pushers of a sham impeachment. He pissed a lot of people off with that statement, and he isn’t likely to be forgiven anytime soon.

My speculation is they didn’t bring it to the floor for a motion to vacate because there aren’t enough Republicans who support it.

After the House gaveled out, Dade Phelan was caught giving interviews in the hallway, and he did not hold back.

One reporter asked if the Republican infighting would hurt their agenda to pass school vouchers. Phelan responded, “No. I’m here to discuss real policy, not fantasy land, calling people to resign. I didn’t take $3 million from a PAC that associates themselves with Nazis and Nazi sympathizers. That’s not my problem. That’s someone else’s problem.

“And my House members who support me, we don’t take money from this PAC. We don’t associate ourselves with sexual deviance, misfits, and folks who associate themselves with Holocaust deniers. That’s not my problem. That’s someone else’s problem. I’m here to focus on real policy going forward, and that’s outside noise. That’s fantasy land. And quite frankly, there’s not a House Republican or Democrat, save maybe one or two, who feel any differently than me right now.”

Did you see that right there? That’s what we call drawing a line in the sand.

Within a few hours, the Texas House Republican Caucus made a statement regarding the Defend Texas Liberty PAC’s meeting with Nick Fuentes. They called on the elected officials who received funds from them to redirect those funds to charitable organizations. The statement clarified that the Defend Texas Liberty PAC’s values don’t align with the Texas House Republican Caucus.

Fifty-nine members of the Republican Caucus signed the letter. Twenty-four did not. Those 24 were:

• Charles “Doc” Anderson

• Briscoe Cain

• Travis Clardy

• Tom Craddick

• Gary Gates

• Caroline Harris

• Brian Harrison

• Richard Hayes

• Carrie Isaac

• Terri Leo-Wilson

• J. M. Lozano

• Geanie Morrison

• Four Price

• Matt Schaefer

• Nate Schatzline

• Mike Schofield

• Reggie Smith

• John Smithee

• Valoree Swanson

• Tony Tinderholt

• Steve Toth

• Ellen Troxclair

• Cody Vasut

• Terry Wilson

Of those, the ones who have received money from the Defend Liberty PAC include:

• Tom Craddick (he didn’t receive money, but his daughter, Railroad Christi Craddick, did receive a ton of cash)

• Caroline Harris

• Brian Harrison

• Carrie Isaac

• Terri Leo-Wilson

• Matt Schaefer

• Nate Schatzline

• Tony Tinderholt

It should be noted that Matt Schaeffer, Doc Anderson, and Four Price already announced that they will not be running for office again.

It matters because by intentionally not signing this statement, they refuse to denounce white supremacy and the neo-Nazism that the Defend Texas Liberty PAC has seemingly brought into the Republican Party.

The entire Nick Fuentes shitstorm is so bad that Daddy Money himself, Tim Dunn, put out a statement.

Notice how he calls himself an ally of Israel but doesn’t denounce the white supremacy meetings happening under his dollar. And the list, as Robert Downen reported on Twitter, included San Antonio preacher John Hagee, who said that “God sent Hitler to drive the Jews out of Europe and into Jerusalem.”

In 2018, the Texas Observer reported that Dunn told Straus, who is Jewish, that only Christians should be in leadership positions.

Some House members doubled down on refusing to denounce the white supremacy links to the Defend Texas Liberty PAC.

Poor Nate never knows when to shut up. Late this afternoon, the Defend Texas Liberty PAC finally released a statement.

It sounds like they're about to lose their meal ticket and put out a last-minute effort to save themselves. But Nick Fuentes visited their office for almost seven hours this weekend. What could they have possibly had to discuss with him all day long if they opposed his views like that?

Moreso, this evening, Scott Braddock was on the Chad Hasty Podcast with new revelations about how Nick Fuentes also visited the Defend Texas Liberty PAC’s office last month.

Further Republican Party alignment with Nazis is also emerging.

On Saturday, Nazis protested outside of a church in Fort Worth that is LGBTQ-inclusive.

On the same exact day, the Latinos United for Conservative Action protested at the exact same church.

There hasn’t been any clarification on whether these two groups were protesting together or if they showed up at the same location, hours apart. I’ll keep my ear out and let y’all know later.

Steven Monacelli later reported that Kelly Neidert, with Protect Texas Kids, was also at the protest with the Conservative group.

Kelly Neidery has been at the forefront of the fascist movement in North Texas and proudly called herself a “Christian fascist.”Her twin brother, Jake Neidert, worked for Tony Tinderholt as his legislative director. Last year, I broke the story of how Jake Neidert’s social media was full of racism and other disgusting things.

The walls between the Republican Party of Texas and neo-Nazism are wearing thin, and some of the GOP members in the not-neo-Nazi crowd aren’t going to be pushed around.

There are 29 days left of the special session. Buckle in.