“Tito the Builder” Goes National

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Earlier today, Sarah Palin introduced us to Joe the Plumber’s replacement. And he’s a man we met over the weekend: Tito Munoz, aka “Tito the Builder”.

Speaking to supporters in Grand Junction, Colorado, Palin said, “Tito is not pleased with how the Barack Obama campaign and some of the media friends there have been roughing up Joe the Plumber.” “Not pleased” is putting it mildly. Our David Corn was at the center of the Tito maelstrom on Saturday, when Munoz intentionally drew a crowd after a McCain rally in order to berate the press. David posed questions to Munoz and the crowd of unhappy McCain supporters surrounding Munoz — the result was the video we posted yesterday, titled “Mad for McCain.”

Today, Palin said of Munoz, “Tito wants to know, and I quote, he asked, ‘Why the heck are you going after Joe the Plumber? Joe the Plumber has an idea. He has a future. He wants to be something greater. He wants to be something else. Why is that so wrong?'” (For the record, Tito’s question was “Why the hell are you going after Joe the Plumber?” but we won’t quibble.)

Tito the Builder isn’t exactly Joe the Plumber. Joe refuses to tell the press who he is voting for. He displays no anger. Munoz is a serious step up: he’s passionately anti-media and anti-Obama. (If you watch the video linked to above, you’ll note that he is also passionately anti-socialism.) Perhaps his chutzpah makes him a better surrogate for the McCain campaign. Welcome to your 15 minutes of fame, Tito.

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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. The deadline’s almost here. Please help us reach our $150k membership goal by May 31.

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