From Brehm to Coulter, the Republican Party Dominated the Weekend Spotlight

May 26, 2020 - San Antonio

By Jade Esteban Estrada - Political Columnist, San Antonio Sentinel

During any presidential election year, airwaves and news feeds are chock full of politically driven comments from both sides of the aisle in an effort to win attention for the top-tier candidates on November’s ballot. This weekend, however, the Republican Party, on both the local and national level, certainly took the cake. 

First, on Friday, Bexar County Republican Party Chairwoman Cynthia Brehm appeared at a rally in front of City Hall and essentially declared that the Covid-19 pandemic was a hoax. “Why is this happening today? And I’ll tell you why. [The coronavirus] has been promulgated by the Democrats to undo all the good that President Trump has done for our country - and they are worried,” she said. “So take off your mask. Exercise your constitutional rights. Stand up. Speak up and vote Republican.” 

On Saturday, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff responded to Brehm’s statement during their nightly Covid-19 update. To illustrate his perspective, Wolff recounted a conversation he had with the late Precinct 2 Commissioner Paul Elizondo: “He said, ‘We’ve got to run for reelection again.’ And I said, ‘Paul, why would we want to do that? You know, we’re getting a little bit older.’ And he said, ‘Well, there’s too damn many crazy people running for office.’ [Brehm] is a good example.” 

“I think there are many people desperately trying to make this pandemic response a political issue, but it’s not,” said Nirenberg.

Nationally, right-wing political pundit Ann Coulter took to Twitter on Sunday to assail Trump calling him “a shallow and broken man.”

Coulter seemed to be triggered by the president’s recent criticism of former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions when he urged Alabama voters not to vote for Sessions in the upcoming runoff election and subsequently endorsed his opponent, Tommy Tuberville, whom Trump described as “the true supporter of our #MAGA agenda!” Via Twitter he recalled the 2017 Mueller investigation and said, “...do not trust Jeff Sessions. He let our country down.” 

“GOP is poised to lose senate seats in Colorado, Montana, possibly North Carolina and Maine,” tweeted Coulter on Memorial Day. “The ONE senate seat Republicans could possibly flip is Alabama...and Trump is trying to destroy that.” 

When it comes to politically provocative sound bites, it could be safe to say that the more reverberating voices of the Republican Party are only getting started.

Jade Esteban Estrada is a political columnist at the San Antonio Sentinel. He can be reached at jade@sasentinel.com.