JD Vance's new press secretary is connected to a far-right consultancy firm

Plus, a Chicago-based conservative radio host quits her coaching job for mocking the son of vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz.

A new investigation by The Guardian reveals that a staffer of GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) is connected to a wide network of far-right organizations. 

Before joining Vance’s staff, Parker Magid, who was recently announced as Vance’s new press secretary, worked at the consultancy firm Beck & Stone (B&S), which describes itself as “brand consultancy for building institutions.” 

Andrew Beck and Austin Stone founded B&S and the firm has worked closely with a variety of reactionary publications, think tanks and secretive fraternal orders. Partners have included the Claremont Institute — which offered legal advice to Donald Trump during his attempts to overturn the 2020 election — and the Society for American Civic Renewal — a “far-right mens-only organization with an emphasis on Christian nationalism. 

Beck, in particular, has been vocal about the concept of “Christian civilizationism,” which he describes as the idea that “Christianity and civilization are inseparable, that each is best expressed when the two are most in tune, and that there should be no hesitation to use politics toward this end.” 

Magid’s biography on the B&S website says that he “hopes his career as a political strategist will give him the opportunity to interview Éric Zemmour,” a French intellectual who is a prominent promoter of the so-called “Great Replacement Theory.”

Vance himself is making headlines today after he said during a speech in Erie, Pa. that Vice President Kamala Harris “can go to hell” for her campaign highlighting a Trump team altercation at Arlington National Cemetery.

After calls by parents to step down, a Chicago conservative radio host will no longer coach the Amundsen High School volleyball team.

"Effective immediately, Coach Amy Jacobson is no longer part of the athletic program at Amundsen," the school's principal announced today. 

Jacobson had received backlash for mocking the son of Democratic vice-presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Gus Walz, who is 17, has a nonverbal learning disability, according to his parents. A viral clip of Gus Walz becoming emotional during his father’s speech had become fodder for right-wing talking heads, and Jacobson and her co-host, Dan Proft, were no exception. 

“What’s the deal with his kid? Can somebody get Gus Walz some Ritalin?” Proft says before comparing the younger Walz to an SNL sketch wherein the late comedian Chris Farley does an impression of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Jacobson then proceeds to cruelly intimate Gus’ mannerisms. 

According to the Chicago Tribune, one parent who also has a child with Prader-Willi Syndrome told the paper that she was deeply troubled by the former coach’s conduct. Amundsen is “definitely a place where there are lots of kids with disabilities in the building, and so I think when I heard about the podcast, I was just honestly shocked,” the mother said. 

“This isn’t about what her political views may or may not be. It’s about the fact that she mocked a child with a disability or that she sat there silently while somebody else did it, and she didn’t speak up about it.”

Mike Rogers mischaracterizes voting process for Michiganders without photo IDs

By Austin Linfante

While on Newsmax last week, Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers mischaracterized how voters in the state can cast their ballots without a photo ID, failing to note it involves a legally binding affidavit.

During an Aug. 21 appearance on “Carl Higbie Frontline,” Rogers discussed a lawsuit from the Republican National Committee against Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over voter roll maintenance when he pivoted to the state’s voter ID laws.

“And by the way, what they tell you is if you don’t show up with an ID, you can sign a piece of paper that said, ‘No, gee whiz, I really am ‘fill in the blank,”” Rogers said. “It should make you feel a lot better about how that’s handled in the state of Michigan. So it is concerning.”

Rogers also pledged that “ballot integrity people” were being recruited.

This characterization of how voting without a photo ID works in Michigan does not bring up precautions and legal steps taken in validating votes. While the state’s Department of State encourages people to bring photo IDs to polling places if they have them, it is not required. However, in order to cast a ballot without a photo ID, the prospective voter must sign a legally binding affidavit affirming who they are and where they live.

According to the affidavit itself, making any false statement on it is perjury, a felony in Michigan that is “punishable by a fine up to $1,000.00 or imprisonment for up to 5 years, or both.”

This has been the law in Michigan since 2007, with the Department of State holding dozens of uncontested elections since then. The law was originally a Republican idea to push towards photo ID requirements at polling places, according to Outlier Media’s Alex Klaus. Rogers himself won three elections for Congress under that photo ID rule.

Rogers’ pivot towards premature election skepticism is an almost complete reversal to where the former congressman’s position was just a handful of years ago. In May, the Washington Post’s Patrick Marley profiled Rogers’ stance changing from being outspoken that the 2020 election was legitimate to either casting doubt on it or avoiding the issue altogether. 

“Rogers had previously declared the election ‘free and fair’ and compared Trump to a ‘gangster’ for pressing Georgia election officials to find more votes for him,” Marley wrote. “Now running for Senate with Trump’s endorsement, Rogers has tried to quickly move on when asked about those views in media interviews.”

Marley noted that this all coincided with an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, the country’s most prominent election denier.

“With Rogers facing a GOP primary in August, he sought and won Trump’s endorsement in March,” Marley wrote. “Since then, Rogers has not always been as direct as he was in the past about his views on the 2020 election.”

The article mentions Rogers anticipating Democratic cheating in a Detroit News op-ed from January as well as him dodging the question during a WJR 760AM radio interview in April, where he said he “answered that a hundred times.”

The Michigan Democratic Party condemned Rogers’ Newsmax comments in an Aug. 23 statement.

“If you can’t beat ‘em, spread conspiracy theories about elections…?” the party asked. “Rogers (once again) embraces dangerous election conspiracy theories and casts doubt on the integrity of our election system, saying it’s ‘really very concerning for us.’”