Super-patriotic GOP candidate forgets words to the Pledge of Allegiance
Eric Hovde is a deeply patriotic Republican who desperately loves the U.S., and he’s running for Senate. How do we know he loves the U.S.? Because he’s a Californian running in Wisconsin, which means he loves the U.S. at least twice as much you unwashed single-staters. And he regularly flies over a big chunk of America when he’s not counting his money at his bank in Utah, so there’s that too. He also likes to tell everyone how patriotic he is. In fact, he’s outraged—outraged!—that anyone would dare disparage the Pledge of Allegiance, whose recitation has long been a compulsory exercise for schoolchildren who don’t know what a republic is and dimly wonder why we should give two shits about an invisible one. But Hovde, who’s running as a member of a party that pledges allegiance to an (alleged!) documents-stealing wad of id, is angry that anyone would ever sully these sacred stanzas, which as far as his MAGA-fried supporters know came down from Mount Sinai in the glove compartment of Moses’ Escalade. Just look at how insistent he is that pledging fealty to the flag is the only way to honor that sacred symbol and the values it represents. (This two-pack tweet features a shot and a chaser, and a transcript of both videos is provided below.) Earlier this year Eric Hovde had a hissy fit and called people who didn't say the pledge unpatriotic. Awkward. #WISen https://t.co/hsshqiy2ll pic.twitter.com/x6OekkNJSz— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) April 23, 2024 Shot: We said the Pledge of Allegiance tonight. My wife knows a teacher in Madison who taught elementary school. She would have the kids do the Pledge of Allegiance. You know what she was told by school administration? ‘You can’t. And if you do it you will be punished. All you’re doing is indoctrinating young Nazis.’ Think of that thought process. This is the country that fought a World War, sacrificed our young to save Europe to beat the Nazis. They have no concept of what they are talking about, so they have eroded the patriotism in our country. That’s the first thing they’ve done. Chaser (from a separate event at a Wisconsin racetrack): We’re all so blessed to be part of the greatest country in the history of mankind, America. America’s given more prosperity, freedom to its people than any country in the history of the world. It not only saved the world once, but twice in the last century from oppression and tyranny. I’m proud to be an American. I love my country, so let’s say the Pledge of Allegiance together. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, indivi … undiv … indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Of course, if you can find anyone over the age of, say, 80 who cares whether kids in school recite the Pledge of Allegiance, you’re an ace detective. Which is why Hovde’s two-pronged election strategy of publicly butchering the Pledge while saying that people in nursing homes shouldn’t be allowed to vote is so incredibly canny. According to recent reports, Sunwest Bank, where Hovde serves as CEO, has been named as a co-defendant in a lawsuit alleging elder abuse on the part of a senior living facility that’s partly owned by the bank. And, yes, it hardly seems fair to tar a candidate over the actions of a company his bank foreclosed on. Or it would, anyway, if he hadn’t, as The New York Times wrote, “boasted recently of having gained expertise in the nursing home industry as a lender to such residences.” But that’s actually a bit of a MacGuffin meant to set up the money quote. You see, because it’s apparently impossible to run as a Republican these days without pretending Trump had a point about the 2020 election, Hovde recently claimed there were “irregularities” in the vote (psst, there always are, but they’re rarely significant enough to matter). Then Hovde suggested eligible voters should be prevented from voting because of all of that cheating he’s sure is happening. “Well, if you’re in a nursing home, you only have five, six months life expectancy,” said Hovde. “Almost nobody in a nursing home is at a point to vote, and you had … adult children showing up and saying, ‘Who voted for my 85- or 90-year-old father or mother?’” Got that? If you're in a nursing home, your brain is mush. Maybe it’s not quite mushy enough to trick you into voting for a Californian running for Senate in Wisconsin, but it’s concerning nonetheless. But never mind that. Hovde loves the Pledge of Allegiance, just like the three elderly men in Hayward who actually still give a shit about it. Hope he hasn’t lost their vote! Then again, he may be able to coax them back into his camp by also forgetting the words to The Star-Spangled Banner, like the über-patriotic Trump. After all, he has to do something to distract Wisconsinites from the fact that he owns a $7 million home in Green Bay Laguna Beach, California: YouTube Video Campaign Action
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Eric Hovde is a deeply patriotic Republican who desperately loves the U.S., and he’s running for Senate. How do we know he loves the U.S.? Because he’s a Californian running in Wisconsin, which means he loves the U.S. at least twice as much you unwashed single-staters. And he regularly flies over a big chunk of America when he’s not counting his money at his bank in Utah, so there’s that too.
He also likes to tell everyone how patriotic he is. In fact, he’s outraged—outraged!—that anyone would dare disparage the Pledge of Allegiance, whose recitation has long been a compulsory exercise for schoolchildren who don’t know what a republic is and dimly wonder why we should give two shits about an invisible one.
But Hovde, who’s running as a member of a party that pledges allegiance to an (alleged!) documents-stealing wad of id, is angry that anyone would ever sully these sacred stanzas, which as far as his MAGA-fried supporters know came down from Mount Sinai in the glove compartment of Moses’ Escalade.
Just look at how insistent he is that pledging fealty to the flag is the only way to honor that sacred symbol and the values it represents. (This two-pack tweet features a shot and a chaser, and a transcript of both videos is provided below.)
Shot:
We said the Pledge of Allegiance tonight. My wife knows a teacher in Madison who taught elementary school. She would have the kids do the Pledge of Allegiance. You know what she was told by school administration? ‘You can’t. And if you do it you will be punished. All you’re doing is indoctrinating young Nazis.’ Think of that thought process. This is the country that fought a World War, sacrificed our young to save Europe to beat the Nazis. They have no concept of what they are talking about, so they have eroded the patriotism in our country. That’s the first thing they’ve done.
Chaser (from a separate event at a Wisconsin racetrack):
We’re all so blessed to be part of the greatest country in the history of mankind, America. America’s given more prosperity, freedom to its people than any country in the history of the world. It not only saved the world once, but twice in the last century from oppression and tyranny. I’m proud to be an American. I love my country, so let’s say the Pledge of Allegiance together.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, indivi … undiv … indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Of course, if you can find anyone over the age of, say, 80 who cares whether kids in school recite the Pledge of Allegiance, you’re an ace detective. Which is why Hovde’s two-pronged election strategy of publicly butchering the Pledge while saying that people in nursing homes shouldn’t be allowed to vote is so incredibly canny.
According to recent reports, Sunwest Bank, where Hovde serves as CEO, has been named as a co-defendant in a lawsuit alleging elder abuse on the part of a senior living facility that’s partly owned by the bank.
And, yes, it hardly seems fair to tar a candidate over the actions of a company his bank foreclosed on. Or it would, anyway, if he hadn’t, as The New York Times wrote, “boasted recently of having gained expertise in the nursing home industry as a lender to such residences.”
But that’s actually a bit of a MacGuffin meant to set up the money quote.
You see, because it’s apparently impossible to run as a Republican these days without pretending Trump had a point about the 2020 election, Hovde recently claimed there were “irregularities” in the vote (psst, there always are, but they’re rarely significant enough to matter).
Then Hovde suggested eligible voters should be prevented from voting because of all of that cheating he’s sure is happening.
“Well, if you’re in a nursing home, you only have five, six months life expectancy,” said Hovde. “Almost nobody in a nursing home is at a point to vote, and you had … adult children showing up and saying, ‘Who voted for my 85- or 90-year-old father or mother?’”
Got that? If you're in a nursing home, your brain is mush. Maybe it’s not quite mushy enough to trick you into voting for a Californian running for Senate in Wisconsin, but it’s concerning nonetheless. But never mind that. Hovde loves the Pledge of Allegiance, just like the three elderly men in Hayward who actually still give a shit about it. Hope he hasn’t lost their vote!
Then again, he may be able to coax them back into his camp by also forgetting the words to The Star-Spangled Banner, like the über-patriotic Trump. After all, he has to do something to distract Wisconsinites from the fact that he owns a $7 million home in Green Bay Laguna Beach, California:
