On this date in both 2018, as well as 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” had profiled the sitting member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio’s 8th District, Warren Davidson, who was first elected to office in June of 2016, shortly after former Speaker of the House John Boehner said, “F*** this s***,” and peaced out of of Congress. As part of the GOP gerrymandering of House districts after the 2010 elections, Boehner made sure that his own home district was galvanized, transforming it into the reddest district in all of Ohio. When he retired, no less than FIFTEEN Republicans battled it out like it was the goddamned Hunger Games to take his place in Ohio’s 6th for the remainder of his term, which Davidson then coasted to victory in the general special election to establish himself as the incumbent. In a general election, he can always breeze to victory against a Democrat, because of the +17 Republican lean in the Cook Partisan Voting Index. Almost immediately after arriving in Washington, D.C., Davidson issued what could be interpreted as a final “F*** you” to Boehner as he left office, immediately joining the Republican House Freedom Caucus that constantly was trying to bring about his downfall, and ultimately made Boehner resign in frustration to go work for the medical marijuana lobby.
While we’ll salute Warren Davidson for his time as a U.S. Army Ranger without hesitation, we still think it’s truly f***ed up that he went to a gathering of veterans to gripe about “moochers” who were within the V.A. Medical system, and kick them out of it.
For someone well off like Davidson, maybe having your medical care paid for by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs isn’t a choice he has to make… but for every blue-collar veteran with injuries endured in the service without a six-figure salary to pay for physical or mental health treatments to be turned away? That… is some bulls***. And it’s frankly outrageous that someone would begin playing the “welfare queens” card on fellow service members like that. When people enlist, part of the agreement with the government that a service member gets is, after your service is over, the government helps you take care of your medical needs. That’s it. And there’s no whining about the cost, because men put their lives on the line.
Sorry if we got up on a soapbox there, but that’s a topic near and dear to CSGOPOTD’s heart.
Anyway, that one-off comment wasn’t the only time that Rep. Davidson popped off about who actually “deserves” medical coverage. At his first town hall as a Congressman in early 2017, Davidson was hammered with questions about the GOP’s wishes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, even if there was no replacement for it. Thus, the following exchange occurred, resulting in gasps and boos from those assembled:
Constiuent: “My son did not have health insurance for four years, until the ACA when Medicaid was accepted. He didn’t have health insurance because he’s in the service industry. And that industry pays minimum wage and they keep their employees below a certain number of hours so that they cannot – so that they don’t have to pay health insurance. So, many of the people that are on Medicaid are working, and they are the working poor. Under Trumpcare, one of the major ways to make health insurance affordable is to bring back catastrophic insurance, which is basically no insurance at all. Given that, given that preventative health care is the number one way to keep people healthy in our society, can you explain why my son and millions of others in his situation are not deserving of affordable, decent healthcare that has essential benefits so that he can stay healthy and continue working?”
Warren Davidson: “OK, I don’t know anything about your son, but as you described him, his skills are focused in an industry that doesn’t have the kind of options that you want him to have for health care. So, I don’t believe that these taxpayers here are entitled [sic] to give that to him. I believe he’s got the opportunity to go earn those health benefits.”
Yes, he pretty much just told a woman that her son deserved to die because he wasn’t “skilled” enough, and that he has to “earn” the right to keep living. Great work, Warren. Making the GOP look real sympathetic out there. And if you’re wondering if he just misspoke, no, he doubled down on his statement.
Davidson is also a climate change denier, thinks Sharia Law is a threat to the United States and our Constitution (even though the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment would defend against it quite nicely, but hey, why not be an Islamophobe?), would like to redefine marriage as only between one man and one woman while allowing businesses the “religious freedom” to discriminate against the LGBTQ community, and is a supporter of Personhood.
If you’re thinking the above two stories might be an indicator that Warren Davidson’s voting record has a mile-wide streak of being uncaring for his fellow Americans, you might be right:
- January 27th, 2019: Warren Davidson voted against HJR 30, which was meant to express disapproval of Donald Trump not acting against Russian Federation for attacking our democracy. You see, he’s fine with our nation being sublet to Vladimir Putin.
- January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Davidson voted against HR 648, because he was gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
- February 28th, 2019: Warren Davidson votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
- March 14th, 2019: Rep. Davidson votes against HJR 46, which sane members of Congress voted for to reject Donald Trump’s “national emergency” regarding the U.S. border and his attempts to reallocate funds for a border wall without Congressional approval.
- April 4th, 2019: Warren Davidson is one of 158 Republicans who choose to vote against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
- June 4th, 2019: Davidson votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
- July 16th, 2019: Warren Davidson votes against a resolution to condemn Donald Trump for his racist statements that four people of color in Congress should “go back where they came from”.
- October 17th, 2019: Rep. Davidson is one of 60 Republicans who vote against HJ Res 77, which opposed Donald Trump’s disastrous decision to abandon Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria to the mercies of a Turkish invasion.
- December 3rd, 2019: Warren Davidson is one of 71 Republicans who votes against a resolution to disallow Russia from re-entering the G7 and makes it the G8 until it leaves Ukraine.
- December 18th, 2019: Rep. Davidson ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the impeachment of Donald Trump.
In December of 2018, Davidson actually submitted legislation right at the tail end of the Republican Congress for the “Buy a Brick, Build a Wall” Act that would allow private citizens to donate money towards the stupid, stupid idea of Donald Trump’s border wall on the U.S./Mexico border that would not only not prevent illegal immigration, but would cost billions of dollars in the process. In November, Davidson gets a rematch against Democrat Vanessa Enoch, who he beat by about a two-to-one margin only two years ago… so it seems like the gerrymandered wall Boehner built for his seat will hold for at least the next two years.
One Year Ago, July 6th, 2019: Warren Davidson (OH)… 2019 Update
Two Years Ago, July 6th, 2018: Warren Davidson (OH)… Original Profile
Three Years Ago, July 6th, 2017: Tony Shipley (TN)… 2017 Update
Four Year Ago, July 6th, 2016: Tony Shipley (TN)…2016 Update
Five Years Ago, July 6th, 2015: Tony Shipley (TN)… Original Profile