Her hypocrisy needs to be shouted from the mountaintops, said one former lawmaker about Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL).
Former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) unloaded on Salazar for misremembering how she voted on key legislation on live television.
In the interview with CBS New Miami "Facing South Florida" with Jim Defede, Salazar was forced to explain why she is taking credit for funds coming into the Miami airport when she voted against the infrastructure bill.
READ MORE: Inside the re-emergence of the Old Confederacy
"Look, I think that was last cycle. I cannot really remember right now," Salazar claimed.
"First of all, liar, liar, pants on fire," McCaskill said to MSNBC host Ali Velshi on Monday. "She totally remembers. And it's so obvious she remembers.
"Her body language. I mean, this is just so damaging to a political candidate when they're this phony."
Salazar also voted against key legislation like the CHIPS and Science Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023.
The CHIPS and Science Act, passed into law July 2022, is aimed to bolster the stateside semiconductor industry and scientific research and manufacturing to compete with international rivals like China and the
The Consolidated Appropriations Act siphoned a $1.7 trillion federal spending bill to boost different federal agencies' funding.
Defede tested Salazar.
“So, at the same time that you’re taking credit for the money that you bring back to the district in Washington, you’re voting against these projects on party-line votes."
Salazar waffled, saying, "I right now you have to give me more details — Every time I get the opportunity to deliver money to my constituents I do so. I need to ask my staff."
That's when she attempted to shift the conversation away from her voting record, claiming she didn't remember.
"I cannot really remember right now, but just look, just look at the Americas Act—"
Defede interjected: “You don’t want to explain why you voted against [these bills]?”
“I mean right now, and I’m not trying to be a politician, there’s so many bills that I’ve introduced and I know that many of them—”
He reminded her, “These are bills that you voted against.”
“I understand and, but, it’s OK. Sometimes I vote, and sometimes I don’t, but let’s look at the positive,” Salazar told him.
McCaskill believes this kind of selective amnesia displayed by the Florida lawmaker needs to be zapped.
"You know, with the Democrats down there in that area can do — they can get together in their local Democratic committee and gather enough money and put up some billboards and call this woman out for her hypocrisy, her phoniness."
She added: "Her willingness to look in the camera and lie to them; lying has become part of the Republican Party and it's so refreshing to see a journalist call them on it in real-time."
See the full video below or at the link here.
