Aaron Blake |
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Aaron Blake covers national politics and writes regularly for The Fix. A Minnesota native and summa cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota, Aaron has also written about politics for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and The Hill newspaper. Aaron and his wife, Danielle, live in Annandale, Virginia.
Aaron Blake
1.MAGA is more evangelical, conservative.
While Trump strikes few as the embodiment of the evangelical Christian faith, the MAGA movement is much more evangelical than not.
Strong MAGA supporters identify as evangelicals 60 percent to 39 percent in Monmouth polling, but those who lean Republican and don’t support the MAGA movement are nonevangelical by a similar margin, 59 percent to 36 percent.
--Aaron Blake; Washington Post; 7 ways MAGA Republicans differ from other Republicans 8.22.23
While Trump strikes few as the embodiment of the evangelical Christian faith, the MAGA movement is much more evangelical than not.
Strong MAGA supporters identify as evangelicals 60 percent to 39 percent in Monmouth polling, but those who lean Republican and don’t support the MAGA movement are nonevangelical by a similar margin, 59 percent to 36 percent.
--Aaron Blake; Washington Post; 7 ways MAGA Republicans differ from other Republicans 8.22.23
Aaron Blake
Rarely has the Trump-era overhaul of the Republican Party been put in such stark relief as it was Friday in Iowa.
There was former vice president Mike Pence, the post-George W. Bush embodiment of religious conservatism in the GOP if ever there was one, welcomed to a forum that by all rights should have been very friendly: the evangelical Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines.
Except organizers chose as host not another beacon of the religious right, but rather Tucker Carlson. In Carlson, we have the man even Fox News recently decided was too much of a problem, who last month spurred a large settlement with a former staffer who had alleged a hostile work environment and sexual harassment, the man who has now put Fox in trouble in another defamation lawsuit, and who freely admitted at the forum that he’s not a “particularly faithful or virtuous person.”...................Carlson launched into claiming that Ukraine was “persecuting Christians,” citing arrests of priests. But it’s hardly so straightforward; as the National Review notes, Ukraine has sought to limit the reach of the Russia-tied Ukrainian Orthodox Church because of its support of Russia’s invasion. The exchange was torturous, with Pence trying to explain his own conversations with Christian leaders in Ukraine disputing Carlson’s premise, but Carlson repeatedly pressing his counternarrative. (Pence ultimately gave in somewhat in the name of moving on, saying of the persecution of Christians: “I won’t stand by it. I won’t stand for it.”)...............he tone had been set by this point, of course. This evangelical forum was not the conservative Christian icon’s audience, it was Carlson’s — in line with the outspoken base of the party as much as a religious movement. There was no room for views on Ukraine that were actually where polls suggest much of the Republican Party remains.
It’s not at all difficult to see the Family Leadership forum ultimately contributing to — or at least being indicative of — the demise of the conservative movement’s most evangelical-friendly candidate. Even as it was taking place, word came that the former vice president had raised an anemic $1.2 million in the final weeks of June after launching his candidacy.
.--Aaron Blake; Washington Post; Tucker Carlson puts Mike Pence in his place in today’s GOP 7.14.23
There was former vice president Mike Pence, the post-George W. Bush embodiment of religious conservatism in the GOP if ever there was one, welcomed to a forum that by all rights should have been very friendly: the evangelical Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines.
Except organizers chose as host not another beacon of the religious right, but rather Tucker Carlson. In Carlson, we have the man even Fox News recently decided was too much of a problem, who last month spurred a large settlement with a former staffer who had alleged a hostile work environment and sexual harassment, the man who has now put Fox in trouble in another defamation lawsuit, and who freely admitted at the forum that he’s not a “particularly faithful or virtuous person.”...................Carlson launched into claiming that Ukraine was “persecuting Christians,” citing arrests of priests. But it’s hardly so straightforward; as the National Review notes, Ukraine has sought to limit the reach of the Russia-tied Ukrainian Orthodox Church because of its support of Russia’s invasion. The exchange was torturous, with Pence trying to explain his own conversations with Christian leaders in Ukraine disputing Carlson’s premise, but Carlson repeatedly pressing his counternarrative. (Pence ultimately gave in somewhat in the name of moving on, saying of the persecution of Christians: “I won’t stand by it. I won’t stand for it.”)...............he tone had been set by this point, of course. This evangelical forum was not the conservative Christian icon’s audience, it was Carlson’s — in line with the outspoken base of the party as much as a religious movement. There was no room for views on Ukraine that were actually where polls suggest much of the Republican Party remains.
It’s not at all difficult to see the Family Leadership forum ultimately contributing to — or at least being indicative of — the demise of the conservative movement’s most evangelical-friendly candidate. Even as it was taking place, word came that the former vice president had raised an anemic $1.2 million in the final weeks of June after launching his candidacy.
.--Aaron Blake; Washington Post; Tucker Carlson puts Mike Pence in his place in today’s GOP 7.14.23
Aaron Blake
""The numbers across nearly all of these polls are remarkably similar: Around 4 in 10 Americans do see “witch hunts” and conservatives being targeted, but usually a majority disagrees. Some of that is partisanship, but such surveys suggest that even the right-leaning half of the country isn’t completely sold on the idea that the federal government has been “weaponized” against conservatives. So it’s perhaps no surprise that just 36 percent see the new committee as legitimate. But just as notably, at this point, it looks like the committee is viewed as significantly less legitimate than some of the investigations it will probe. Barring some major discoveries to draw broader public attention, the committee will be singing to the choir." --Aaron Blake; Washington Post; GOP’s ‘weaponization’ committee viewed as more suspect than its targets 2/6.23
John Nolte
"The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake and Chris Cillizza pose as objective reporters (even though Cillizza’s second home is on MSNBC agreeing with every left-wing premise thrown his way). Both, though, dropped their guard Tuesday to launch illogical and unfounded partisan attacks on Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz...This is how journalists like Blake and Cillizza think and operate. Other than playing goalie for Obama, The Washington Post doesn’t want to know nothin’ about Benghazi or the IRS. But a 25 year-old rock, a fifty year-old haircut, and a sweet gotcha! against Tea Party demons like Rubio and Cruz (for an office budget that revolves around constituent outreach) … brother, there’s a story worth telling. " --John Nolte: Brietbart WaPo's Aaron Blake, Chris Cillizza Launch Partisan Twitter Attack on Rubio, Cruz 8.6.14
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Mar 27, 2015: News Busters: WashPost Reporter: We're Innocent! Blame Conservative Media for Negative Hillary Terms Washington Post political reporter Aaron Blake picked up on the Hillary Clinton "Super Volunteers" badgering New York Times reporter Amy Chozick about the 13 words you can't use to describe Hillary because it's coded sexism............But do the media actually use these words to describe Clinton? Well, yes, but only if you loosely define "the media" as "the conservative media" and "people who don't like Hillary Clinton."
In fact, if you Google "Hillary Clinton" and "calculating," there are 140,000 results. The first slew of results come from conservative outlets like The Daily Caller, The Blaze, Breitbart, the Daily Telegraph and also the Republican "America Rising" super PAC. One result comes from the Los Angeles Times, but it's a defense Bill Clinton lodged in 2007 against the attacks. |
Jan 28, 2014
Jan 9, 2023: Washington Post column: The McCarthy concessions that could be flash points; Blake writes: "Perhaps the biggest rules change is what’s known as the “motion to vacate the chair.” This effectively allows one member to force a vote to remove McCarthy as speaker at any point. McCarthy allies might not like the leverage this provides McCarthy’s critics, but given that this threshold effectively existed for more than a century before 2019 — it’s simply more of an imminent threat now — it seems unlikely to be a sticking point."
Dec 23, 2022: Aaron Blake: Washington Post: Key findings from the Jan. 6 committee’s final report
Nov 30, 2022: The Week: GOP leader Kevin McCarthy's bid for House speaker may really be in peril
The fact McCarthy felt the need to warn about this "rather fanciful hypothetical," in which a group of moderate Republicans joins with Democrats to pick a mutually agreeable speaker, appears "to say plenty about how imperiled he views his ascent," Aaron Blake and JM Rieger write at The Washington Post. But a lot depends on how committed his far-right GOP critics are in their quest to sink his speaker dreams again — as they did in 2015.
The fact McCarthy felt the need to warn about this "rather fanciful hypothetical," in which a group of moderate Republicans joins with Democrats to pick a mutually agreeable speaker, appears "to say plenty about how imperiled he views his ascent," Aaron Blake and JM Rieger write at The Washington Post. But a lot depends on how committed his far-right GOP critics are in their quest to sink his speaker dreams again — as they did in 2015.
Oct 9, 2020: Politico: BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Aaron Blake, senior political reporter at WaPo’s The Fix
How did you get your start in journalism? “My first job was at the University of Minnesota’s student newspaper, the Minnesota Daily, as a sports reporter (at the time I was more interested in sports than journalism, I think). I spent four years covering the Gophers there, before I decided to try out politics at the Star Tribune’s D.C. bureau. I never really looked back.”
How did you get your start in journalism? “My first job was at the University of Minnesota’s student newspaper, the Minnesota Daily, as a sports reporter (at the time I was more interested in sports than journalism, I think). I spent four years covering the Gophers there, before I decided to try out politics at the Star Tribune’s D.C. bureau. I never really looked back.”
August 27, 2015: Topeka Capital-Journal: Aaron Blake: Trump is starting to tear the GOP apart
President Donald Trump is now openly attacking the GOP leaders of both the House and the Senate. In tweets Thursday morning, he blamed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for having “failed” to replace Obamacare, and he said both McConnell and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., created the current debt ceiling “mess” by using the wrong tactics.
President Donald Trump is now openly attacking the GOP leaders of both the House and the Senate. In tweets Thursday morning, he blamed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for having “failed” to replace Obamacare, and he said both McConnell and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., created the current debt ceiling “mess” by using the wrong tactics.
Aug 13, 2015: Aaron Blake: Washington Post: The one big reason neither Donald Trump nor Bernie Sanders can keep this up
