MN-SEN: Former Republican congressman and inflammatory radio host Jason Lewis to run for Senate

[RandySF]

A former Republican congressman and conservative radio personality with a history of inflammatory remarks will challenge Minnesota Democratic Sen. Tina Smith.

Former Rep. Jason Lewis, who served one term in Congress and worked for 25 years as a radio personality, will run against Smith, he announced Thursday.

Lewis launched a campaign website that boasts his conservative bona fides, including having prioritized tax and spending cuts on the House Budget Committee and having published a book about “the importance of local units of government to our republic.”

Smith was first appointed to her seat after former Sen. Al Franken resigned because of sexual harassment allegations in February 2018 before winning a special election in November to serve out the duration of Franken’s term.

Lewis hosted his namesake syndicated radio program for five years. He used the platform to stoke racial animus with remarks about the Latino birth rate outpacing the birth rate of whites, and degrade women, endorsing applying the word “slut” to demean women who are the victims of sexual harassment and describing women voters as “non-thinking,” among other derogatory statements. His writing on slavery has also been a source of controversy.




https://www.rollcall.com/news/campaigns/mini-trump-former-republican-congressman-and-inflammatory-radio-personality-will-run-for-senate

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Aww, jeez, this guy is a total douche. He was a smaller-market Limbaugh

who was thoroughly offensive as a hate-radio host, and later as a congressman. Angie Craig kicked his ass in 2018 and I believe Tina Smith can do it to him again.

[Midnight Writer]

2. Something I think the national media over look is that there are lots of LOCAL hate radio shows.

I live in the Heartland and there are some totally Alex Jones-alikes in even small radio markets. And since they are not scrutinized, they are even more radical then the big guys.

What is curious to me, and worrying, is that many of these shows in my area have no advertising. They go to break, and then run a Public Service Ad, some bumper music, and maybe a parody type loop from the Limbaugh show.

Who is funding these shows?

[PSPS]

3. Who is funding these shows?

They may be syndicated or run on purchased block of time. However, in some cases, the stations are willing to run them for free at their expense. Why? Because their purpose isn't to make money through advertising. Their purpose is to shape public policy and the owners make their money that way (tax breaks, regulation rollback, etc.)

But even if syndicated or sold as a time block, the producers of the show are motivated the same way because, again, their desire is to shape public policy (through which they can reap enormous financial benefit like trump's tax cuts for the rich.) If you follow the money, it goes back to the familiar network of Kock, Mercer, etc. (Probably the kremlin is in there too.)

[TheRealNorth]

4. Dang it

I thought we sent him packing to a lobbying gig after we voted him out of MN-02.

Now we have to listen to this racist, confederacy-loving POS for another year and 3 months.

[NCLefty]

5. All the garbage radio hosts are coming out of the woodwork. Walsh is back too.