Opinion

The Mississippi-Wisconsin Pipeline Could Sink Trump’s Presidency

REUTERS/Mike Segar

Noel Fritsch Contributor
Font Size:

Just before the June 24, 2014 primary runoff election between Thad Cochran and Chris McDaniel, I got word that Donald Trump might endorse my boss Chris McDaniel. I didn’t believe it, but The Donald did end up endorsing Chris.

I’d served as Chris’s Communications Director. We were cresting the #DrainTheSwamp #MakeDCListen wave, and nearly rode it into Washington.

But it wasn’t to be. Long-time D.C. insider Haley Barbour and his well-placed army of lackeys, including Reince Priebus and Henry Barbour, made sure of that.

Mr. Trump had already tweeted at Chris once when it looked like Chris would win on June 3. Sadly, we came up about 1,500 votes shy of the 50% + 1 vote needed to retire then 42 year incumbent Thad Cochran.

Then Mr. Trump tweeted at Chris again ahead of the runoff citing Chris’s desire to see things change in Washington.

Like a Barbour in the Night

Three weeks later, and in devastating fashion, Cochran and Barbour stole the election McDaniel in the runoff by buying votes in black communities and vilifying conservative Republicans as racists.

Thad increased his haul by about 50,000 votes. The NRSC and RNC enabled the theft of that election, and the popular hashtag #RememberMississippi was born.

Cochran’s campaign, directed by the Barbours, paid for black votes.

I know this because I personally read the emails sent from Thad’s campaign to a pastor, Rev. Fielder, who paid black parishioners $15 per vote for Thad Cochran. The emails came from Cochran’s campaign web domain, and were addressed to Rev. Stevie Fielder.

The money was funneled into Mississippi by way of the so-called “Mississippi Conservatives” super PAC, whose donors include Facebook founder Sean Parker and Michael Bloomberg.

Haley Barbour’s nephew Austin Barbour used campaign money to buy votes, and the super PAC, run by former RNC Chairman nephew Henry Barbour, aired race baiting ads calling McDaniel and conservatives  racists and even hired leftist operatives to stoke the flames.

RedState reported the ads were paid for by media buyer Jon Ferrell at National Media of Alexandria, Virginia. Funding was also routed through the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) as CBS reported.

Barbour on Race: Harvest Black Votes to Destroy Conservatives

Henry Barbour claims to care about race relations, but he designed a political operation that destroyed many years of reconciliation in the south, and based it all on lies.

Barbour’s cynical ad campaign was utterly devastating to race relations. Some called it the worst race-baiting they’d ever seen.

Barbour used these deplorable ads to keep corporate welfare gushing into Mississippi –  largesse that primarily benefits rich whites, keeping them in power. (It’s no coincidence they all opposed Mr. Trump!)

The NRSC raised a lot of money from conservative Republicans who undoubtedly donated toward the goal of electing conservatives and keeping Republicans in power. Yet Priebus and Barbour wasted millions of dollars in a deep red state like Mississippi to destroy a rising conservative star in Chris McDaniel.

It was a pure power play. The Wall Street Journal and New York Times even admitted Cochran’s win was a result of Barbour’s and Cochran’s cynical ploy.

Haley Barbour’s Mississippi-Wisconsin Pipeline Could Tank Trump’s Presidency

The Barbours’ Republican Party paid for race-baiting ads attacking conservatives and Republicans, as Erick Erickson, formerly of RedState, reported. Henry Barbour, after working furiously to dodge the charges of race baiting, admitted to placing some of the ads, but not others.

Barbour’s behavior was so abominable RNC member Ed Martin introduced a motion to censure him at the August 2014 RNC convention in Chicago.

Sadly, the RNC decided against censuring Barbour for his deplorable behavior. Perhaps Henry Barbour avoided censure because he is the National Committeeman from Mississippi and member of the Republican National Committee who helped install th RNC CHair.

For his part, Henry still lauds Reince as the best RNC Chair ever, which makes sense when one considers Henry & Haley Barbour backed Reince’s campaign to lead the RNC.

Politico even referred to Henry Barbour as a loyal ally to Reince in reporting about Priebus consulting the younger Barbour about another run for RNC Chair. Henry even deigned to speak for Reince to the media. It’s safe to say the two are quite close.

And as recently as August of this year, Reince, assuming a Trump loss, was seriously considering another run for Chair of the Party motivated to prove the party’s health. All the while the Barbours and their spokesmen were predicting a crushing loss for Trump and actively campaigning against him.

Mr. Trump: Remember Mississippi, Sever the Reince/Barbour Connection

Obama’s second term is nearly over, and Mr. Trump has been swept into office by the same conservatives that boosted McDaniel to record numbers in 2014.

These hardworking Americans are looking for two things:  common sense leadership and an end to the politics of division peddled by the Barbours, BLM, and Barack Obama.

Given the Barbour’s blatant disloyalty and their record of failure at or near the top of the Republican Party – failures that gave us eight years of Obama, unprecedented debt and spending with little to show for it, and an America more divided than any point since the 60s – neither Haley or Henry must be allowed to slime their way into any position of influence inside the Trump administration.

Trump must not allow the Barbours to weasel their way into his team

The Barbours campaigned against Mr. Trump. They’ve proven they’ll do anything to retain power, including mounting a silent attempt at overthrowing Donald Trump’s presidency from day one.

President-elect Trump: The grass roots are begging you: do everything you can to ensure Reince’s loyalty lies with you in the White House and not with the old RNC Chair Haley Barbour or his duplicitous nephew Henry.