Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) — who’s going to spend much of Labor Day listening to Republican after Republican explain how they’re going to fix America — tells ABC News he’s probably not going to show up for President Obama’s jobs speech before a joint session of Congress Thursday.
“If he sent a written proposal over first, I would go hear him explain it,” DeMint said. but frankly right now I’m so frustrated I don’t think I’m going to go.”
DeMint’s already blasted the jobs speech, and now it seems he’s going the way of another tea party star in Congress, Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), who’s already announced he’s skipping the address.
(Walsh also called the president “idiotic” for giving the address on the number one issue on the minds of American voters, something he later apologized for — but not before doubling down on his claim that Obama’s only in the White House because America wanted to pull the lever for a black guy.)
With Walsh and maybe DeMint out and ripping the speech no one’s seen, Democrats may have have a harder time trying to find Republicans to sit with, which some have said they’re hoping to do Thursday.
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.
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