Sunburn — The Morning Read Of What’s Hot In Florida Politics — 2.11.22

By Peter Schorsch

Good Friday morning.

The Lincoln Project is coming out Friday with a new ad targeting congressional Republicans for their participation in the 2022 “Coward Olympics” by continuing to promote falsehoods about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and standing for Donald Trump‘s electoral “big lie.”

Explicitly named in the minute-long spot — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia. One part shows McCarthy dodging questions in a Capitol hallway while the voice-over describes the move as an Olympic-style “1,000-meter downhill moral collapse.”

“Kevin McCarthy is a colossal tool bag with the political prowess of a slug,” said Rick Wilson, co-founder of The Lincoln Project. “Some ads are more fun to make than others, and our team had a really good time showing what a eunuch Kevin McCarthy actually is.”

The ad starts running digitally at RNC Headquarters and the Capitol Complex in Washington. It will continue all weekend on broadcast TV, during the Sunday political shows, and on Fox News, as well as at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach and Bakersfield, California, all day Sunday.

To watch “Coward Olympics,” click on the image below:

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Four new hires diverse in background and experience have joined U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist’s campaign to retake the Governor’s Mansion in November.

Topping the list is Deputy Political Director Jordan Pride, president of the Hillsborough County Democratic Black Caucus and a principal consultant for political media firm Parsons-Wilson.

Pride boasts more than half a decade of experience in community engagement, organizing and political strategy. Her past roles include work as a community engagement specialist for the Florida Democratic Party in the Saint Petersburg-Tampa area and as a field specialist for former St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman’s successful 2017 re-election campaign.

Other new hires include Cait Gibbons as Digital Fundraising Director, Carolina Zamora as Online Engagement Director and Grace Wright as deputy press secretary.

“As momentum continues to build and our team grows,” Crist said. “I am humbled to receive the support of Floridians across the state who are sick of the culture wars and demanding change.”

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Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried raised $312,000 toward her Democratic gubernatorial run in January, finding no new momentum after her fundraising efforts began slowing some in late autumn.

Fried’s official election campaign reported accepting $171,502 in January. Her independent political committee, Florida Consumers First, picked up another $141,854 during the month. That’s according to the latest campaign finance reports posted by the Florida Division of Elections.

Her combined January haul of $313,358 was the second-lowest total since she officially opened her campaign fund in June. In fact, Fried’s three driest months of contributions during her eight-month campaign have been the past three: November, December and January.

The latest month of contributions and expenditures provided her with a combined cash-on-hand balance of about $3.6 million by the start of February — just over $2.6 million in her political committee and $955,000 in her campaign fund.

That compares with $6.4 million for Crist as of Feb. 1. The third prominent Democrat in the August Democratic Primary Election, state Sen. Annette Taddeo, had about $705,000 to work with on Feb. 1.

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

Tweet, tweet:

—@Daniel_Sweeney: Less than 48 hours after we published an editorial pointing out a few of the myriad times (Ron) DeSantis‘ press sec. erroneously slags others, she’s done it again (here, conflating former GOP state Sen. Victor Crist with Charlie Crist). No doubt this one, too, will soon be deleted.

—@NikkiFried: A veto pen would be nice to have right about now.

Tweet, tweet:

Tweet, tweet:

Tweet, tweet:

—@Mike_Grieco: I have said “gay” 22 times this morning in the Florida Capitol … and now I’m concerned that the Gazpacho Police is looking for me.

—@CoryMillsFL: I’m honored to have spent time with legislators at the Florida Capitol over the past few days to discuss FL concerns. Once again, ⁦@AnthonySabatini⁩ was a no-show to votes. FL and US Congress does not need absentee elected officials unwilling to do what they elected to do.

—@FALASSource: FALA is standing with the @alzassociation to support Alzheimer’s Awareness on #TheLongestDay as they paint the Capitol purple — our residents are our #1 priority!

—@TonyKhan: The fact-checking standard for @ProFootballTalk reporting is far lower than that of @AEW’s roving reporter @tonyschiavone24. I’m definitely not running for Congress; this filing is faker than Eddie Gilbert’s apology to Tommy Rich in 1984. PFT sources as trustworthy as @The_MJF.

Tweet, tweet:

—@SportsCenter: Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving only played 16 games together. They went 13-3.