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Displaying its usual class and patriotism, the Republican Party used the President's Day holiday to issue a dig at Democratic President Joe Biden with a petty graphic that mocks the President.
The graphic extended a wish for a Happy Presidents' Day to eight former "great" Republican presidents whose pictures surrounded a photo of Biden in a mask. Above Biden were the words "NOT YOU," excluding him from the list of supposedly honorable leaders.
See the graphic posted on the Republican Party's official Twitter account below.
Happy Presidents\u2019 Day!pic.twitter.com/8lanpKXO10— GOP (@GOP) 1645449661
The graphic is as notable for the Republican presidents it does and does not include as for its slight against Biden. For one, it includes Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a president who is almost never acknowledged by Republicans in any way.
Eisenhower was among the most progressive Republicans to ever hold the office, especially when it came to taxation, with rates on wealthy individuals and corporations that were actually higher than the ones that sent Republicans into a tizzy when proposed by Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a few years ago.
The GOP's tweet also lauded President Ronald Reagan, infamous for ignoring the AIDS crisis for years; Richard Nixon, who resigned in disgrace after being impeached for the Watergate Scandal; George W. Bush, regarded by many as a war criminal; and Calvin Coolidge, whose economic policy resulted in the Great Depression.
And, of course, the GOP's roster included Donald Trump. We probably don't need to remind you what a disaster he was.
Missing from the GOP's roster, however, were Republican Presidents often lionized as heroes, like Ulysses S. Grant, who defeated the Confederacy in the Civil War and presided over the Reconstruction; and Teddy Roosevelt, whose policies championed the working class that the current Republican Party claims to represent.
Roll it all together and the tweet seems like an embarrassingly craven attempt at adulating the worst of right-wing tendencies and obscuring anything that would offend the MAGA crowd, while disrespecting the office of the presidency they claim to love so much by trolling the sitting president.
On Twitter, people lambasted the post--including several Republicans who were disgusted by the tweet.
Every day, the @GOP does or says something to make me feel really good about my decision two years ago to leave the Republican Party. Every single day.https://twitter.com/GOP/status/1495750407888510985\u00a0\u2026— Joe Walsh (@Joe Walsh) 1645457765
I was once an RNC spokesperson. There was no way in hell we would EVER have put something out this disgusting, anti-American, and stupid. @GOPChairwoman is absolute MAGA garbage. Utter filth. A cockroach in lipstick.https://twitter.com/GOP/status/1495750407888510985\u00a0\u2026— Cheri Jacobus (@Cheri Jacobus) 1645455052
Awful lotta one-termers, criminals, impeachments and congressional investigations in there, bros.\n\nKinda sucks when one of your "better guys" is the one-term loser who three of the others despised (and most of your voters today think was a lizard "because CIA")https://twitter.com/GOP/status/1495750407888510985\u00a0\u2026— Like Kurosawa, I Make Mad (@Like Kurosawa, I Make Mad) 1645472793
Interesting not to include Ulysses S. Grant. Worried about enraging the base since he kicked the Confederacy's ass?https://twitter.com/GOP/status/1495750407888510985\u00a0\u2026— The Rude Pundit (@The Rude Pundit) 1645453479
Choosing to include Calvin Coolidge is kind of hilarioushttps://twitter.com/GOP/status/1495750407888510985\u00a0\u2026— Thor Benson (@Thor Benson) 1645462924
Imagine drawing up a list of Republican presidents to admire that doesn't have Grant or TR but *does* have Coolidge, Nixon, and Trump.https://twitter.com/GOP/status/1495750407888510985\u00a0\u2026— Kevin M. Kruse (@Kevin M. Kruse) 1645451603
This is the tweet of a third graderhttps://twitter.com/GOP/status/1495750407888510985\u00a0\u2026— Ed Solomon (@Ed Solomon) 1645452211
Nixon resigned in disgrace after his men spied on his election opponents and he abused the power of the White House, paid hush money to cover it up. Tens of thousands needlessly died as he prolonged Vietnam for political reasons\n\nHe's only the 3rd-worst GOP president on this listhttps://twitter.com/GOP/status/1495750407888510985\u00a0\u2026— Will Bunch (@Will Bunch) 1645454759
We went from "WORSE THAN WATERGATE" to "Watergate is fine" in one weekhttps://twitter.com/GOP/status/1495750407888510985\u00a0\u2026— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1645462765
This is mostly juvenile and vulgar. But we are on the verge of war in Europe. It would be good if elected Republicans, GOP candidates, those who've served in Republican administrations--made it clear @GOP does not speak for what remains of a decent and patriotic Republican Party.https://twitter.com/GOP/status/1495750407888510985\u00a0\u2026— Bill Kristol (@Bill Kristol) 1645457024
Never good when you have to pick 8 of your party\u2019s best presidents and two are impeached, two are one term, and one would have been a Democrat today.https://twitter.com/gop/status/1495750407888510985\u00a0\u2026— Tony Posnanski (@Tony Posnanski) 1645457612
Two wouldn't be Republicans today.\n\nThree couldn't win a county in Iowa today.\n\nOne was a complete-and-total failure.\n\nOne was a criminal.\n\nAnd the last one is going to prison.\n\nBut, other than that, great post.https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1495781289160491017\u00a0\u2026— Jonathan Gaffney \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Jonathan Gaffney \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1645461813
The epitome of tacky, low-class, crude behavior from an organization that should be setting an example of American goodness.https://twitter.com/GOP/status/1495750407888510985\u00a0\u2026— Vicki Ringer (@Vicki Ringer) 1645489226
Let's all bear this tweet in mind the next time the GOP starts crowing about disrespecting the office of the presidency.