MAGA Rep Rages at Audience Member Laughing in His Face
Maryland Republican Andy Harris is really not having a good time.
A Trumpy congressman blew his lid at a voter who couldn’t contain her laughter at his feeble attempts to blame Democrats for the soaring cost of fuel.
“This is the problem!” Maryland GOP Rep. Andy Harris, 69, exploded during a debate Tuesday night with his Democratic challenger Dan Schwartz, who’s ahead by 13 points in the polls.
“You all say you believe there’s a First Amendment, but only if you agree with you [sic]!” the Republican, who has served eight consecutive terms as the representative for Maryland’s 1st District,raged. “You should let me finish the sentence, ma’am! You’re rude!”
Maryland's lone Republican congressman was having a rough time of it on Tuesday night.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Things fell apart at the debate in Cambridge, hosted by the League of Women Voters, after Harris tried to defend President Donald Trump’s shock deal to buy diesel from Russia.
“The facts are that diesel prices have gone up,” Harris told voters on Tuesday. “There’s no question about it.”
Republicans are more generally having a hard time blaming anyone other than Trump for voters' woes.
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images
“Why has it gone up?” he went on. “Because the Democrats and environmental regulations have not…” Harris then said before the rest of his answer was drowned out by jeers and laughter from the audience.
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Trump, 80, entered an agreement with President Vladimir Putin to lift sanctions on Russian oil companies and purchase at least 1.8 million metric tons of diesel from them.
The agreement has provoked global outrage, not least in Ukraine, where military forces have increasingly targeted Russian oil refining facilities in an effort to undermine Putin’s war machine.
The president’s move has been widely panned as a bid to lower sky-high fuel costs, driven by his war of choice with Iran, ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The president's deal with Putin has provoked global outrage.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Voters have consistently ranked the conflict, along with its effect on gas prices and overall affordability in the U.S., as their chief anxiety going into those polls, helping hand Democrats a 9-point lead in the race for control of the House and Senate.
Analysts seriously doubt that the modest additional supplies under Trump’s deal with Russia will substantially reduce diesel prices or the impact those higher costs have had on inflation, even in the longer term.
The Daily Beast has contacted Harris’ office for comment on this story.
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