(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day: Andy Harris- 2023 Update [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-06-26 On this date in both 2020, 2021, as well as 2022, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” published our original profile of the sitting U.S. House Representative from Maryland’s 1st Congressional District, Andy Harris, who was first elected to office in… yes, of course, the 2010 Tea Party Wave, after a failed Congressional campaign in 2008, and prior to that, a full decade in the Maryland State Senate from 1999-2009. That failed 2008 campaign involved Harris unseating incumbent GOP Congressman Gary Gilchrest by running to his right, and claiming that Gilchrest, a Vietnam veteran, was not truly supportive enough of the Iraq War during his time in Congress. Gilchrest ended up supporting Democrat Frank Kratovil in the general election, forcing Harris to try again in 2010. And Gilchrest is still disgusted with him until this day… which is understandable, given the circumstances. Including the fact that Harris, a physician, ran for office by whipping up paranoia about the Affordable Care Act. But during his orientation in late 2010, he threw a tantrum that he would not be given health insurance immediately, and would have to wait all of two months until he was sworn in before it would kick in. Let us repeat that… the main who campaigned against socialized healthcare practically s*** himself in rage that he would have to wait two months to get some of it for himself. Harris, the only Republican member of the Maryland delegation in the House, comes to our attention because while we would like to say he’s a son of a Hungarian immigrant father and Polish immigrant mother and that should make him a good example of a Republican with attitudes towards immigration… but no, it’s quite worse than that. Andy Harris likes to remember his father, Zoltan Harris, as a man who was taken to a Russian gulag for being a determined anti-Communist soldier… the timeline of that, however, neglects to mention that Zoltan Harris fought for the pro-Hitler Hungarian army that was fighting the Allies during World War II. So, yes, neglecting to mention that your father was pro-Nazi is a concern. More of a concern… the support for Hungarian fascists did not skip a generation, as Andy Harris has come out hard in support of Hungarian strongman and Putin ally Viktor Orban, actually writing it down on Congressional letterhead. And he’s snuck across the pond to speak at events in Budapest in favor of Orban, with his opening act being Sharon Slater, the head of an anti-LGBTQ hate group from Arizona who thinks that homosexuality is a “mental disorder” caused by childhood trauma that can be treated with gay conversion therapy. But Harris has gone as far as to write the U.S. State Department and ask them to pull the financial support our government gives towards journalists in Hungary, who, y’know, report on human rights violations being committed by Orban’s regime. But that is not the only far-right Eastern European country where Harris has shown interest… in 2018, Harris planned to visit far-right Czech white nationalist Tomio Okamura with a delegation of true Congress-critters that included Dana Rohrabacher, Louie Gohmert, Paul Gosar, and of course, Steve King. Not for nothing, but if your dad was in a pro-Nazi group and you didn’t hold the same ideals, maybe you wouldn’t want to hang out with trash like Okamura, who had called for the gassing of Jews, gays, and Roma. But Andy Harris is not discriminating in the company he keeps, or political endorsements he gives… as in 2017, he endorsed Roy Moore even AFTER the public learned Moore had a long history of predatory behavior towards young girls (to say nothing of the rampant racism and homophobia). It's not a one off, where he sticks up for the worst people. After all, 2018, Harris came out hard in defense of Brett Kavanaugh, making accusations that his highly credible accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, was just “a troubled woman”, and her testimony should be disregarded. I mean, there is no bottom for how gutless Andy Harris can be. He might pretend to be a patriot, but it’s hard to claim that when you go and vote against healthcare for 9-11 First Responders and call the Zadroga Act “fiscally irresponsible”. Or how in 2018 he was caught funneling campaign dollars to his wife illegally and was slapped with an ethics violation. This has continued into current events, as he’s started feuding with fellow Republican and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan for responsibly keeping his state’s business closed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Harris compared Hogan’s “stay at home” order that applied to church services to “Communist China” and “North Korea”. Hogan, to his credit, blew Harris off, saying, “he’s got a right to say whatever crazy things he wants to say”. Maryland’s 1st Congressional District has a +11 Republican lean, which helped Harris win in 2022 with 54% of the vote, and he’s returned to the Capitol to continue on with one of the more grotesque voting records in all of Congress: Andy Harris was one of the first members of the GOP to start worshiping white nationalists and fascists abroad, and he's definitely willing to make that an imported thing here at home. Whether by primary, or Democratic challenger, the minute he's out of office will be a relief for the country. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/26/2177653/-Fanatical-Republican-Extremist-of-the-Day-Andy-Harris-2023-Update Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/