Regardless if the you now support the immediately former president or not, if you’re a Republican and voted for him last November, then the news that the Quislings at the Lincoln Project are falling out with each other is welcome schadenfreude.
Though the tag on them as “grifters” is a bit absurd. They’re political consultants, as I was for twenty years. Like doctors and lawyers, they get clients, work with those clients, get paid, and move on to other clients. It’s the nature of the job. And many political consultants consistently work for the Green Party, i.e.- who pays them, again, like doctors and lawyers. So the real reason to despise those guys is because they were on the other side. Not just because they were hired guns.
So anyway, Friday, to distance herself from the fallout over the John Weaver scandal (He used his political influence to sexually harass and try to seduce boys), Lincoln Project co-founder Jennifer Horn sent a nastygram to her former coworkers.
“John Weaver’s grotesque and inappropriate behavior, coupled with his longstanding deceptions concerning that behavior, are sickening,” Horn said in a statement. “It is clear at this point that my views about how the Lincoln Project’s efforts are managed, and the best way to move the Lincoln Project forward into the future in the wake of these awful events, have diverged.’’
Sounds almost legitimate, right? Nah. The snakes at the Lincoln Project responded with this.
“Forty-eight hours ago, at a moment when the Lincoln Project was under attack from the Trump organization and their propaganda allies, Jennifer Horn, in written communication, requested from the Lincoln Project an immediate ‘signing bonus’ (Why would a co-founder need a signing bonus?) payment of $250,000 and a $40,000 per month consulting contract,” Lincoln Project communications director Ryan Wiggins wrote. “This followed a Christmas Eve communication from Jennifer, where she demanded a board seat on the Lincoln Project, a television show, a podcast hosting assignment, and a staff to manage these endeavors. She also stated her goal was ‘to establish immediate and long-term financial security.’ (Actually, nothing wrong with that, and candidly, isn’t that everyone’s goal?) These demands were unanimously rejected by the management committee and board.”
Ah, so she tried a power play, got shot down, and tried to cover it up by pivoting to the Weaver stuff. Not a horrible ploy, but not really effective. You want horrible, in the pathetic sense, try this from Weaver himself.
Weaver: “I am so disheartened and sad that I may have brought discomfort to anyone in what I thought at the time were mutually consensual discussions. In living a deeply closeted life, I allowed my pain to cause pain for others. For that I am truly sorry to these men and everyone and for letting so many people down.” Key three words? “Deeply closeted life.” Translation: “You can’t criticize me! I’m gay!”
Remember when Harvey Weinstein first got nabbed and he said we should ignore him and focus on hating the NRA? Same thing. First rule in crisis management, change the subject. But you have do it in convincing way like the Clintons did on Bill’s impeachment. Weaver needs to reread the playbook. Because playing the gay card in 2021 is trite and lazy. He should have somehow blamed it on Trump and Covid-19. The press would have loved it.
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