#NeverTrumps silent on Lincold Project meltdown

dukkha

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Given Wallace's background as a onetime Republican and current GOP critic, it made sense that her afternoon program "Deadline: White House" would become a regular stop for Lincoln Project co-founders like Steve Schmidt and Rick Wilson, who became media stars for bolting the GOP over disgust with former President Donald Trump.

Over at least nine appearances between Jan. 11 and Feb. 8 by Schmidt, Wilson, and Lincoln Project advisers Kurt Bardella and Tara Setmayer, Wallace did not ask about the scandal over co-founder John Weaver's harassment of young, gay men, including a 14-year-old, according to a media analysis. Conservative author and journalist Ryan Girdusky first broke the story about Weaver's predations on Jan. 11.

Since that time, the organization has crumbled after multiple reports that Schmidt and others knew about Weaver's harassment of young men earlier than they claimed. In addition, criticism of the group's questionable finances and its toxic work environment have increased.

THE LINCOLN PROJECT'S SPECTACULAR DOWNFALL: A TIMELINE

MSNBC did not respond to a request for comment.

Just two of the original eight Lincoln Project co-founders remain at the organization. Co-founder George Conway, who stepped down last year, has called for The Lincoln Project's dissolution. Bardella, who resigned from the group amid the fallout, also said it should be shut down.

MSNBC ignored the Weaver story until "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski asked Conway about it on Feb. 1. Conway expressed disgust with Weaver's behavior but added he didn't know him well.

Wallace and Schmidt are friends and worked in the George W. Bush White House as well as on Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. Both made enemies in the McCain camp by leaking to reporters about the campaign's problems and were not invited to the senator's 2018 funeral. By 2016, they had reinvented themselves as fierce critics of their own party on MSNBC.

Wallace often played and praised the Lincoln Project's vitriolic anti-GOP ads, which a study found proved to be ineffective in moving swing voters.

"Most Democrats would concede that this is a group whose ad-making acumen is in a league of its own," Wallace cooed on July 13, adding she had worked closely with many of the Lincoln Project's members earlier in her career.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbc...incoln-project-scandal-constantly-co-founders
 
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