Allen West

Allen West: If I Were President, I'd Visit Troops In Combat (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | January 6, 2011, 4:01PM

Rep. Allen West (R-FL)

Newly sworn-in Rep. Allen West (R-FL), an Iraq War veteran whose military career ended after a torture-related incident, is standing by his criticism that President Obama should fly directly out to the theaters of combat when he visits troops. And what's more, the new conservative star might also be getting just a bit ahead of himself on his political career.

West appeared last night on Lawrence O'Donnell's MSNBC show, and stood by his comments in a colorful way:

"Lawrence, I'm not going to retract that statement, because I will tell you this -- if I was sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I would fly into a combat theater and I would get out there and visit those troops wherever they are. That's just the type of leader that I am, and that's what I believe in. And that's the type of leadership that was instilled in me, and my father who, when I was commissioned as a second lieutenant back in 1982, he said that the number one job for you, Lieutenant West, is to take care of your man -- especially when you go into combat."

Hmm, could this be a sneak preview of a running-mate convention speech in 2012?

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Allen West

Allen West: Fiery Radio Host Who Was Almost My Chief Of Staff Helped Pick My New One (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | January 3, 2011, 12:01PM

Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL)

Appearing over the weekend on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL) stood by talk radio host Joyce Kaufman, who almost became his chief of staff but withdrew as a result on media coverage of her various controversial remarks -- and, he added, she interviewed his actual incoming chief of staff for him.

Wallace: Congressman West, you chose and we can now put her picture up on the screen, a radio talk show host, Joyce Kaufman, as your chief of staff. But when it came out that she had called Nancy Pelosi "garbage" and told a Tea Party rally, "if balance don't work, bullets will," she stepped down. What did you learn from that whole experience?

West: Well, I think first of all what you saw was an attack from the left against Joyce Kaufman -- and there are some other issues with that -- but they did not play the full clip of her speech when she gave that, I think it was the 4th of July. So once again, it was the editing sound bite.

And I didn't learn anything from it, because you just adjust and you continue on. So Joyce Kaufman was a very instrumental and helpful person in our campaign, and she was the one that interviewed our current chief of staff, because she knows the good match.

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Allen West

Allen West: Gov't Should Have 'Put Out... Feelers' On TSA Pat Downs

Ryan J. Reilly | November 21, 2010, 1:42PM

Congressman-elect Allen West thinks the Transportation Security Administration did a poor job marketing their security procedures, and "should have put out some type of feelers" and explained the process to in a more comprehensive say.

"It comes back marketing. We should have put out some type of feelers and talked to the American people about this before we implimented this type of plan," West said on Meet the Press.

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FL-22

West Backs Kaufman Against 'This Left-Wing, Vile, Vicious, Despicable Machine'

Eric Kleefeld | November 12, 2010, 12:24PM

Joyce Kaufman and Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL)

Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL) is standing by the honor of his almost-chief of staff, right-wing talk radio host Joyce Kaufman, who pulled out of the job after media attention focused on her violent anti-government statement. And he's using some colorful language himself to describe her detractors.

As the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reports, West called into Kaufman's radio show Thursday:

He said he wanted people, especially those "on the left," to understand that Kaufman would continue "to fight on your battlefield" here, and he "will fight them on the battlefield in Washington, D.C., and we will meet in the middle after we soundly defeat them both."

The Congressman-elect said he's now "even more focused that this liberal, progressive, socialist agenda, this left-wing, vile, vicious, despicable machine that's out there is soundly brought to its knees. You don't have to worry about me doing the right thing in Washington, D.C."

West also concluded the interview: "I'll see you on the high ground."

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FL-22

Report: Kaufmann Was Inspiration For Threats Against Broward Schools

Eric Kleefeld | November 11, 2010, 2:39PM

Joyce Kaufman

Did Joyce Kaufman, the South Florida right-wing radio talk show host who was named (and then unnamed) as Republican Rep.-elect Allen West's chief of staff, inspire the deranged person whose threats led to yesterday's lock down of Broward County public schools, libraries and post offices? It looks that way.

As you might recall, someone emailed Kaufman's radio station, WFTL, declaring that he or she was planning a violent act against some kind of government building, possibly a school. A phone call to the station yesterday, from a woman identifying herself as the e-mailer's wife, later warned that this man could potentially commit a terrorist act against a public school. That prompted a countywide lock down of all public schools.

The local Fox affiliate since reported that the threat-maker had said he was inspired by none other than Joyce Kaufman, who had received publicity in the last few days for her previous calls for violent action against the government in order to protect citizens from the tyranny of the Obama administration.

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Allen West

GOPer Allen West Not Hiring Talk-Radio Host Kaufman As Chief Of Staff

Eric Kleefeld | November 11, 2010, 1:23PM

Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL)

Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL) has had a change of plans -- he is not hiring as his chief of staff local talk radio host Joyce Kaufman. Kaufman recently called outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) "garbage" and earlier this year called for violent revolution if the Republicans didn't win the midterm elections.

As The Hill reports:

"It is with deep regret that this congressional office and the people of CD 22 will not have Joyce Kaufman as my chief of staff," West said in a statement. "Joyce is a good friend, and will remain loyal to South Floridians and to me. I will always seek Joyce's counsel for being a good representative of this congressional district."

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2010 elections

Allen West's Incoming Chief Of Staff Calls Pelosi 'Garbage'

Eric Kleefeld | November 10, 2010, 3:53PM

Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL)

Joyce Kaufman, the south Florida talk-radio host and new incoming chief of staff for Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL) has made an auspicious debut in her staff work: Calling outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) "garbage."

As The Hill reports:

Joyce Kaufman, the incoming chief of staff to Rep.-elect Allen West (R-Fla.), said: "Over these months I have been blessed to form very wonderful relationships with the West family. I looked at this family and [told] myself, 'How do you not fight and put them up on the pedestal when we've got this garbage up on the pedestal now, people like Nancy Pelosi?'"

Kaufman, a conservative South Florida radio personality, made the comments on her show Tuesday.

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Allen West

Allen West Hires Fiery Talk Radio Host (And Potential Rebel) As Chief Of Staff (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | November 10, 2010, 10:34AM

Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL)

Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL), who built his conservative political career on the torture-related incident that ended his tenure in the military, has gone back to his conservative base with a key staff hire.

As the Palm Beach Post reports, West has tapped local talk-radio host Joyce Kaufman, who has made a name for herself through her fiery denunciations of illegal immigration, to be his new Chief of Staff:

A proud Puerto Rican Jew, Kaufman became a de facto spokeswoman for South Florida's anti-illegal immigration movement in 2007. She hit a raw nerve with her mostly white, mostly older WFTL audience, and watched her ratings shoot up, when she broadcast that she quit buying cable TV from Comcast after the company's answering system asked her to "Press 1 for English."

She's had a few on-air doozies since, including when she demanded that illegal aliens be hung on the central square! That got her some heat from the Federal Communications Commission.

And that's not all. Kaufman has also made some fascinating comments on the subject of armed rebellion against the United States government.

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Young Guns

Meet The GOP's Young Bums: TPM Rounds Up The GOP's Worst Next Big Stars

Eric Lach | October 20, 2010, 11:41AM

Clockwise from top left: Blake Farenthold, Rich Iott, David Harmer, Allen West

Republicans promote their "Young Guns" Congressional candidates as "the best opportunity to move our country in the right direction." Founded in 2007 by Reps. Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy and Paul Ryan, the "Young Guns" program aims to recruit and promote "a new generation of conservative leaders." But before even getting to Congress, a number of this year's "Young Guns" and "Contenders" have found themselves fending off scandals, struggling to explain past actions and in one particular case, being outed as a ducky pajama enthusiast.

Let's review some of the most embattled "Young Guns."

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FL-22

GOPer Allen West Has Leather-Clad Security Eject Dem Tracker (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | October 19, 2010, 5:48PM

FL-22 candidate Allen West (R)

Republican House candidate Allen West, who is challenging second-term Rep. Ron Klein (D-FL), has in the past exhibited a stern approach to Democratic Party trackers. And now at a recent event, West directed a Dem tracker to leave, which got the crowd cheering -- and more importantly, some leather-clad security men ejecting the guy, too.

West has recently come under scrutiny for his campaign's ties to a criminal biker gang. It's not clear whether the leather-clad security men who escorted the tracker away were themselves in any way connected to the "Outlaws" biker bang -- the West campaign has described them as Vietnam veterans, "not thugs." (West has pointed out that he could not possibly be an Outlaw -- they do not accept African-Americans as members.)

Thing is, this tracker is lucky he only encountered possible bikers and not West himself. After all, West built his conservative political career on a particular event from his own military career -- when he tortured an Iraqi policeman, and was proud of it.

Hmm, maybe we could get a Joe Miller/Allen West ticket in 2012? That would be one hell of a Republican national convention.

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FL-22

Florida Tea Party Favorite Spoke To, Defended Criminal Biker Gang (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 15, 2010, 10:40PM

FL-22 candidate Allen West (R)

Allen West, a national tea party favorite and the Republican nominee for Congress in Florida's 22nd Congressional District, has (to put it mildly) some controversial friends. According to a new report from NBC News, West has been a fan and defender of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, a national group targeted by the FBI for involvement in racketeering, "violent crimes" and "attempted murder."

As NBC reported tonight, West has had personal dealings with the Florida chapter of the Outlaws, which lists on its website "Brothers In Prison," which NBC correspondent Lisa Meyers says includes "many" who "were convicted of violent crimes, including murder."

Meyers reports on email correspondence between West and a supporter nervous about his interactions with the group that appears to show West defending the group against a characterization that it's "criminal."

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FL-22

GOPer West Blasts 'Gestapo-Type' Tracker (Whose Grandparents Survived Holocaust)

Eric Kleefeld | August 20, 2010, 6:15PM

FL-22 candidate Allen West (R)

Allen West, the Republican candidate for a swing House seat in Florida held by Democrat Ron Klein, is now under fire for saying that a Democratic tracker sent to tape him was guilty of "Gestapo-type intimidation tactics." And as it turned out, the tracker is the grandson of Holocaust survivors.

Speaking at an event Thursday, the Miami Herald reports, West said: "I know here today we have a representative from the Florida Democratic party and he is here to film me and his whole purpose of filming me is to take what I say and allow other people to distort it so they can misrepresent me. You know if we allow those Gestapo-type intimidation tactics to prevail in the United States of America what happens to our liberties, what happens to our freedoms?"

Klein campaign spokeswoman Sarah Rothschild confirmed that the tracker does indeed work for the Florida Dems -- and that he is the grandson of Holocaust survivors.

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Allen West

GOP House Candidate: 'I Hate Big-Tent. I Hate Inclusiveness. And I Hate Outreach'

Eric Kleefeld | December 16, 2009, 2:32PM

FL-22 candidate Allen West (R)

Allen West, a Republican candidate for the swing seat of the 22nd Congressional District in Florida, is making a bold declaration against the party becoming more open to moderation.

"There are three words I hate to hear used. I hate big-tent. I hate inclusiveness. And I hate outreach," West told the Weekly Standard, in a new profile piece. "I think you stand on the principles that make you great, which transcend everybody in America, and people will come to it."

West previously ran for the seat in 2008, losing to incumbent Democrat Ron Klein by 55%-45%, in a district that Barack Obama carried by 52%-48%.

West is a retired Army colonel, who was forced into his retirement after a 2003 incident in which he, as the Standard puts it, "conducted a harsh interrogation" on an Iraqi police officer, in which West fired his gun near the man's head.