Even if Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick ran as an “independent” like he pretended he wanted to in an interview with Punchbowl News, it wouldn’t hide his MAGA voting record or his campaign’s MAGA mudslinging.
Fitzpatrick feigned outrage with a press release Tuesday in response to an answer his potential Democratic challenger Bob Harvie gave at a League of Women Voters Bucks County candidate forum Monday night in Middletown. Harvie was asked, “Do you support open primaries?”
He said “no.” A perfectly reasonable response, even if you disagree.
Here’s Harvie’s full answer:
“The reason I don’t is because I’ve been a member of the Democratic Party since I was 18 years old. My parents were, my grandparents were. I’m joking about the fact that I was born and raised in Bristol Borough on Roosevelt Street, so my political philosophy was pretty much determined at birth. And I believe if you’re a member of a party, no matter what party you’re in, you’ve decided if you’re really committed to make that party everything it needs to be, and you believe in that party, you believe that party has the answers to make this country better, to help people … But, if there’s something imperfect about it, you should dedicate yourself to making it better. And I feel if you want to have a say in what that party is doing and whose leaders are, you should join the party.”
READ: Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick Helps House Republicans Pass the ‘Gulf of America Act’
Fitzpatrick really showed people who he is with his disingenuous response and impotent attempt to stoke controversy over this. First he tried to suggest Harvie insulted “Taxpayers. Veterans. First Responders. Small Business Owners. Citizens who carry every responsibility of democracy.”
Really? Does Fitzpatrick think voters are that stupid?
But it gets worse.
The Republican (not independent) Fitzpatrick then goes on to suggest that Harvie’s reasonable, thoughtful response (even if you disagree) can be attributed to the acrimonious political climate that led the White House Correspondents Dinner Shooting suspect to carry out his attack. Here’s what Fitzpatrick wrote, in true MAGA campaign fashion:
“In the immediate aftermath of yet another act of political violence this past weekend at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, his stance is even more despicable. America needs leaders to lower the temperature. Bob Harvie’s insult to Independent voters does the complete opposite, pouring gasoline on the distrust, division, and violence tearing our nation apart.”
Honestly, Fitzpatrick owes Bob Harvie — and the voters of Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District — an apology for sinking to such a pathetic low and injecting that garbage into the election already.
Maybe he should reread what he wrote about how “America needs leaders to lower the temperature.”
Apparently Brian Fitzpatrick is not one of them.
