MUCKRAKING & YELLOW JOURNALISM IN INDIANA SENATE RACE
Something stinks to high heaven in Indiana
WIBC broadcaster/producer Rob Kendall is attempting to opinion shape a tight 3-way race between Luke Messer, Todd Rokita and Mike Braun. The race is expected to be close, with the candidates all wisely hitched to the MAGA bandwagon. The public is frantic trying to figure out who is real MAGA and who is fake MAGA.
But is Indiana's conservative on air talent, known for being the guy who scored an interview with Trump, being honest with the public?
I came to trust Kendall in the MAGA movement because he came out hardcore for Trump early on, wore his MAGA hat every day and scored the Trump interview.
This was before he was hired at WIBC where GOP Senate debate moderator Abdul Hakim Shabazz also works part time.
Todd Rokita originally did not want to participate in the Shabazz moderated debate citing that Shabazz was a liberal and not qualified to moderate a debate among conservatives.
The top search result for the Kendall/Trump interview is on the podcasters "We Are Libertarians" website. Rob pals with Chris Spangle and his We Are Libertarians crew who are known for their vulgarity, harassment and hate toward Trump supporters (like me). As you can see from the link, We Are Libertarians aren't respectful to Trump, yet they are the top Google search result for Trump's first interview in Indiana. Has Kendall seen this?
LINK TO INTERVIEW: https://wearelibertarians.com/interview-rob-kendall-donald-j-trump/
I was triggered this week by Kendall's tweets of an AP article written by Brian Slodysko asserting Rokita had no endorsements.
THE AP ARTICLE: https://www.apnews.com/08e91ed33ae84bb2a37828914493d794/APNewsBreak:-Trump-campaign-rebukes-Indiana-candidate-signs
The reason I was triggered is the article's origin is Brownsburg, Indiana which is also Kendall's hometown. We couldn't find any other articles written by Slodysko originating in Brownsburg, only Indianapolis.
A tea party member discovered that Slodysko is not only a liberal, but he's the guy who doxxed Indiana First Lady Karen Pence and published her email. So Trump supporter Kendall, who once scored a sit down interview with Trump, is using questionable source material from an AP writer who once dissed America's Second Lady. That's not MAGA.
The shady article doesn't cite sources, just shadowy figures who are unauthorized to speak on behalf of the Trump campaign.
The article reads as a liberal hit piece. It's the kind of junk I'd expect to read in Salon or Raw Story, but is masquerading itself as hard news journalism.
FACT:
Todd Rokita has the expressed public endorsements of MAGA/TRUMP Campaign leaders including:
Rex Early - Trump Indiana Campaign Chair
Tony Samuels - Trump Indiana Campaign Vice Chair
Robert Croddy - Trump Indiana Campaign Region Chair
FACT:
Rokita has more MAGA/Trump endorsements than the other two candidates combined.
Recently Kendall wrote harsh words for Indiana Senate Candidate Todd Rokita on my personal Facebook page calling him "a big fat phony".
But is Rokita really a phony? I wanted to know so I did some fact checking on Kendall's assertions.
I was one of those conservative libertarian types who voted in the Democrat '08 primary as part of Rush Limbaugh's Operation Chaos and I wasn't offended by Rokita. I believe Rokita was talking about challenger Mike Braun's votes spanning many years as a democrat, not just one vote in 2008 as part of a Operation Chaos.
Defeat the Elite? Let's look at what Rokita has done to work toward defeating the elites in just these past few weeks alone.
Voted against Omnibus
One of just 11 in congress to sign a letter for Clinton/Comey corruption probe
Bold push for federal government to stop doing business with Citibank over its anti second amendment stance.
Rokita's net worth is not up to $2.5 million. If you want to put it that way? My net worth is also up to $2.5 million. According to Roll Call which compiles a net worth ranking, Rokita is pretty far down the list at #475 out of 530 congresspersons. It doesn't appear he's getting rich or is an elite.
(Source: https://www.rollcall.com/wealth-of-congress)
In summary it appears that Rob Kendall might be the big fat phony.
Don't pose as a conservative Trump supporter and use liberal hit pieces as sources to bash candidates who are voting with Trump and MAGA.
When your main public social group is a pack of #NeverTrumpers (Abdul Hakim Shabazz & We Are Libertarians), the public might start to not take you seriously as a true MAGA man.
Don't lie and say candidates have no endorsements when they do, especially when those endorsements are MAGA / Trump endorsements.
We deserve the truth from our broadcasters in politics, not muckraking.
It should be respected as an honor to sit in a broadcaster's chair at WIBC, the state's largest newstalk station which is relied on by Indiana conservatives to get trustworthy news. Please treat us, the listeners, with honor and respect while reporting events honestly.
In closing, all this research has made me realize that Rokita is probably the least phony MAGA player in the race. I dug into the nasty things Kendall said about him and discovered the opposite was true.
One of the best things I learned is that Union guys who are former democrats love Rokita enough to put his stickers on their tool boxes. One of the factory guys who follows my Facebook posts saw I was trying to figure out why Kendall was acting so goofy and called me on the phone to tell me what the factory guys think of Rokita.
I think getting the union/factory vote in November could help make sure the GOP takes this seat back from the Never Trumper democrat Senator Donnelly.
I'm probably going to vote Rokita now. Thanks, Rob.
Melyssa Hubbard
Tea Party Founder
Author, Spanking City Hall