A Fox Business host has ripped into the GOP, telling a Trumpy senator his party “doesn’t have it.”
Former Donald Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the Republican Party is lacking in charisma, isn’t doing enough to “drain the swamp” or help the middle class, and is “bungling budget policy.”
On Wednesday’s episode of The Riff, he launched into a brutal attack on the shortcomings of congressional Republicans, before being joined by Sen. James Lankford, who then got the same treatment.
“Call it swag, swagger, rizz, aura, or just plain messaging, but the GOP doesn’t have it, and that’s the subject of the riff. Now, according to Google, a definition for ‘swag’ is short for swagger. It describes someone with a cool, confident, and fashionable demeanor. If someone says you have swag, it means your personal style and attitude are on point.
“Or you can go to Webster, and their definition of ‘swag’ is bold or brash self-confidence. Whatever these definitions, the Republican Party right now doesn’t have it. No swag. They’ve lost their mojo.
“We’re not draining the swamp by getting rid of all the fraudulent and corrupt spending left by Joe Biden’s big government socialism. And we’re not helping middle-class folks so they won’t have to pay taxes on Joe Biden’s inflation.
“There’s no growth from the GOP. There’s no swamp draining from the GOP.
“Nowadays, the kids talk about rizz and aura. Google’s definition of ‘rizz’ is having a smooth, confident and magnetic personality, which is short for charisma. And the definition for ‘aura’ is a person’s coolness, star power or suave swagger.
“As usual, the kids have it right. And whatever their total meaning, the Republican Party doesn’t have any of that either.
“While the president’s fighting a war to end the nuclear threats to freedom and civilization from radical Islam, the Republicans in the House and Senate are doing him in the GOP midterm election outlook no favors. They are bungling budget policy. They are bungling the affordability issue. They’re bungling the growth issue.
“They’re concocting weird inside-the-Beltway word salad reasons why they’re not getting anything done that will actually help make life easier for hard-working taxpayers. Inflation indexing capital gains or raising the exemption for gains on the sale of homes should be easy. Curbing hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars of waste, fraud and corruption should be easy.
“Then you put in the funding for the Voter ID Save America Act and the military supplemental for Iran, and you’ll be fine. There’s nothing hard about this. But the GOP leadership is letting everyone down, whether it’s swag, swagger, rizz, aura, or how about just plain bad messaging. Anyway, the GOP doesn’t have it. That’s the riff.”
He then turned to Lankford.
“Mr. Lankford, I’m sorry you had to bear the brunt of that opening, but I’m telling you right now, you, the leadership in both houses, are bungling everything, sir,” Kudlow said.
He then said to the Senator from Oklahoma that while they were good “personal friends ... you are bungling everything, nothing is getting done, your messaging is nonexistent, you’ve lost your swag, your swagger, your rizz, or whatever the young people say.”
“No one knows what the heck you’re doing, sir,” he continued. “They have no idea.”
Lankford tried to deflect blame onto the Democrats, but Kudlow was having none of it, opening up and blasting his personal friend with both barrels.
“What is it that your policy is? Senator Lankford, my friend, what is your policy? Where are the tax cuts? Where are the spending cuts? Where’s the waste, fraud, and corruption reduction? Where is all of that? Where is the reconciliation bill? Where’s the straight talk and messaging for the midterm? Where’s the growth messaging? Where’s the ‘We’re gonna make it better for taxpayers and working folks’ messaging? Come on, Senator.”
