Georgia GOP banishes former lieutenant governor after Harris endorsement



A former lieutenant governor of Georgia has been formally banished from the state Republican Party after he endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

On Monday, party leaders announced that ex-Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan had been expelled by unanimous vote after his single term in office "was marred by embarrassment and scandal," including a series of alleged attempts to undermine fellow Republicans.

Duncan, who served as second in command from 2019 until 2023 and in the state House from 2013 until 2017, campaigned "as a Trump supporting conservative," the party resolution claimed. However, once he entered office, he "sought openly to undermine and sabotage" the candidacy of other Georgia Republicans, including current Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and U.S. Senate nominee Herschel Walker.

Duncan also has a troubled history with the truth, the party indicated. He allegedly "falsely" implied that he had been endorsed by then-President Donald Trump. He also claimed "he graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology, played major league baseball as a member of the Miami Marlins and was a 'successful businessman.'"

'Geoff Duncan clearly decided to join with the Democratic Party, and particularly extreme elements of the Democratic Party.'

Duncan made no bones about his opposition to Trump in 2024. He not only endorsed President Joe Biden as well as Biden's replacement, Kamala Harris, but he also spoke at the DNC in August, calling on voters to "dump Trump."

Voters in Georgia and across the country did not heed his cries, and now that Trump is about to assume office once again, the Georgia GOP has officially cut ties with Duncan.

The resolution bars Duncan from all party property and events and prevents him running for office in Georgia as a Republican. It also expunges the previous endorsements he received from the party when he ran for the state House and for lieutenant governor.

"Geoff Duncan is no longer a Republican," Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon said in a statement to WSB-TV. "Geoff Duncan clearly decided to join with the Democratic Party, and particularly extreme elements of the Democratic Party."

The resolution demands that Duncan refrain from referring to himself as a Republican, and McKoon asked media outlets to characterize him as an "expelled Republican."

Duncan responded to the resolution to expel him by retweeting it, adding the message: "Hard to believe this is a good use of time for a party that’s only got a limited amount of time to figure out mass deportations, world peace and global tariffs. Learn how to take a victory lap not light another dumpster fire @JoshMcKoon."

H/T: Eric Daugherty

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Republican Mark Robinson — NC's first black lieutenant governor — tells GOP members to 'stand up' and fight for freedom in fiery speech



Republican Mark Robinson, lieutenant governor of North Carolina, delivered a fiery speech at the state's recent GOP convention and told his fellow party members that they all must battle against President Joe Biden and his administration turning America into a "socialist hellhole."

What are the details?

Robinson — who garnered headlines in 2018 after his impassioned pro-Second Amendment remarks at a city council meeting and then followed that last fall by becoming the state's first black lieutenant governor — told fellow Republicans that "we've got to run to the trouble!"

Sounding very much like a preacher in the pulpit, he noted that on 9/11 he watched "people running away from those burning buildings, running away in horror" but that he also "saw policemen and firemen running to those buildings — basically running to their deaths to go help others because they saw trouble, and they knew that they were needed!"

Robinson told fellow Republicans "that's got to be us on this day, right here. We've got to run to the trouble, folks!"

And in addition to the Biden administration's socialist ways, he said the trouble is found in militant leftist groups.

"The trouble is Antifa that wants to roam the streets and beat you into submission," Robinson declared. "The trouble is Black Lives Matter that claims to care about the lives of black people, but it's turned a blind eye" to violence in black communities that's "taking lives at a genocidal rate!"

'No reason to be afraid'

He then explained why Republicans shouldn't shrink from the challenge.

"And we've got all the right in the world on our side," Robinson said. "And there ain't no reason to be afraid. And there ain't no reason to not take the challenge dead on. 'Cuz I'm gonna tell you who we come from, folks. We don't come from some weak, jelly-back, spineless people. That's not who we come from — none of us! And it doesn't matter what color you are, what nation your folks hailed from, how much money you got; we all share the same name: We are Americans!"

He then connected the heroism of soldiers from America's past wars to the heroes of 9/11 "who ran toward those burning buildings. That is who you share your heritage with. You do not share your heritage with a weak and ineffective people who cower at the sign of trouble. You share your heritage with a strong and brave people who are determined to hold on to their freedom and for the freedom of future generations."

In a kind of benediction, Robinson told listeners that "it's time for us to stand up and be that generation. It's time for us to stand strong and proud to remember who we are." He added that "it's time to put on our packs. It's time to fix those bayonets. It's time to get ready — because we got a fight on our hands" to save freedom for future generations.

Here's the clip:

I encourage you all to take a minute to listen to this fiery speech by Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina Mark R… https://t.co/DscqbNfz34

— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) 1623165868.0

Anything else?

North Carolina's governor is Roy Cooper — a Democrat. And while one might assume Cooper would be thrilled to serve with the state's first black lieutenant governor, it was difficult to tell after Cooper's recent State of the State address during which he reportedly failed to even acknowledge Robinson — who was right there presiding over the address.

Idaho Lt. Gov. fills in while governor out of state, issues executive order banning mask mandates



When Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) was out of state this week, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R) became acting governor in Little's absence and took the opportunity to issue an executive order banning mask mandates in the state, including those imposed by local governments.

What are the details?

Gov. Little left the state to attend the Republican Governors Association conference in Nashville, Tennessee, earlier in the week, and was due back in Idaho on Thursday evening. But before he could make it back home, the lieutenant governor decided to take full advantage of her brief elevated position of authority.

McGeachin tweeted Thursday, "Today, as acting Governor of the State of Idaho, I signed an Executive Order to protect the rights and liberties of individuals and businesses by prohibiting the state and its political subdivisions — including public schools — from imposing mask mandates in our state."

A spokesperson for Little told the Idaho Statesman, "The Lt. Gov. did not make Governor Little aware of her executive order ahead of time."

The Associated Press reported that just last week, McGeachin announced that she was running for governor herself. Little has not yet announced whether he will run for a second term, but if he does, the incumbent would face a GOP primary challenge from McGeachin.

The outlet reported that "McGeachin is on the far right of the political spectrum in the conservative state, and her order could bolster her support as a candidate for governor."

"I've been listening to people all across the state with the concern about, especially, why are little kids being forced to wear masks in school," McGeachin told the AP in an interview. "My oath to the Constitution is to protect those rights and freedoms of the individual, and I've never supported any type of a mandate on the individual, especially when it comes to health care choices."

While some localities and school districts in Idaho issued mask orders during the coronavirus pandemic, Little never issued a statewide mask mandate. Given that fact, another fellow Republican, Idaho state House Speaker Scott Bedke, accused McGeachin of issuing the order for show.

"There were no statewide mask mandates," Bedke told the Statesman. "So what you have here is a solution in search of a problem, and it's political theater."

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