August 24, 2020

Republicans Clam Up About Jerry Falwell Jr.

Remember this? I guess we were warned.

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Hey, remember the poolboy who somehow got an investment from Jerry Falwell Jr. a few years ago for a vaguely defined venture involving a youth hostel? His name is Giancarlo Granda and he now says that ever since he was 20 years old he’s been having an affair with Falwell’s wife, Becki. But was it really an “affair”? According to Granda, “Becki and I developed an intimate relationship and Jerry enjoyed watching from the corner of the room.”

I’m pretty sure the Bible doesn’t condone this sort of thing, but I don’t really care. This isn’t a porn blog, it’s a politics blog.¹ So I’m mostly curious about what Republicans think of all this. Here’s Ari Fleischer, formerly one of George Bush’s press secretaries:

Huh. My recollection is that Tara Reade got a mountain of coverage even though her accusations were pretty thin. To find the Falwell story, on the other hand, I had to search the New York Times site because it was nowhere on the front page.

That may change, of course, but my best guess is that the Times and other outlets will give this pretty low-key coverage, though everyone will inevitably finish things up with a 10,000 word, multiple-reporter, graphic-filled feature explaining the entire history of the Falwell clan. (The New Yorker will do 20,000 words.)

That said, how about some actual denunciation of Falwell? I may not care much if Jerry Jr. likes to watch, but supposedly conservatives do. So let’s hear it. Or is Stuart Stevens right?

¹Yes, yes, I know: that’s a thin distinction sometimes.

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It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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