Just in case you were wondering, 2022 isn’t starting any better for California Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell.
Swalwell has had a run of bad calendar years, leaving behind at least one debacle per annum for some time now. In 2018, he became momentarily famous for a Twitter feud in which he implied the federal government might use nukes against Second Amendment proponents who would take up arms against a tyrannical government. In 2019, he tried to run for president — prompting Democrats to ask, “Who’s Eric Swalwell?” and then quickly tuning him out once they got something approximating an answer.
In 2020, we learned Swalwell, a House Intelligence Committee member, had some kind of relationship with an alleged Chinese spy named Fang Fang; Swalwell has refused to answer whether it was libidinous in nature. Not content to let a calendar year go by without a needless controversy, in 2021 it was revealed he had gone on an ethically dubious sponsored trip to Qatar, paid for by the U.S.-Qatar Business Council, in the middle of the pandemic.
Yes, it’s been a long four years with Rep. Swalwell — and we’ve covered as much of it as we can here at The Western Journal, even as the mainstream media still refuses to hold the Democrats to account for having a national security risk who refuses to disavow having an illicit relationship with a purported CCP spy on the House Intelligence Committee. You can help us keep reminding America about the Democrats’ inaction against their own — including Swalwell, Ilhan Omar and Maxine Waters — by subscribing.
So, 2022. New year, new you, maybe — but new Eric Swalwell, definitely not. Just before we rang in the new year, on the evening of Dec. 31, Swalwell sent out a scathing missive regarding a House Judiciary GOP tweet: “If the booster shots work, why don’t they work?”
Mr. Swalwell was not to be trifled with: “As we end 2021, mired in a deadly pandemic, you should know who has prolonged it. THESE GUYS. Republican liars. Your vacation cancelled. Your kids back to virtual learning. And back to masks everywhere. For blame look no farther than #TheseGuys.”
As we end 2021, mired in a deadly pandemic, you should know who has prolonged it. THESE GUYS. Republican liars. Your vacation cancelled. Your kids back to virtual learning. And back to masks everywhere. For blame look no farther than #TheseGuys. pic.twitter.com/v3S43HKPVZ
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) December 31, 2021
Without wading into the morass that is booster-shot politics, it’s safe to say we can all agree this is a “Sir, this is a Wendy’s” moment. But yes, apparently our vacations have been canceled because Republicans just weren’t strict enough on COVID. Mask mandates are back in place everywhere. And it’s all because of the perfidious GOP!
Well, except for the fact red states have, by and large, kept their schools open. And have resisted mask mandates. People can vacation in those states without masks on if they so choose to, even indoors. They can even do it in places like Florida, where people like … oh, you see where this is going:
Welp, Eric Swalwell is the latest lockdown Democrat caught vacationing in the free state of Florida.
Time for a new hashtag #SwalwellLovesDeSantishttps://t.co/tCzrONidu8
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 5, 2022
The only thing that could have made this more perfect would have been Fang Fang at the table.
According to the U.K. Daily Mail, which snagged the photos, the 41-year-old representative was chatting with a female at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel (four-star, natch) as he was looking after his infant son.
“Despite being out of his usual office attire, it wasn’t long before the congressman was recognized and approached by bystanders who took note of his unlikely visit to the Sunshine State,” the Daily Mail reported.
One person told the Daily Mail that an individual approached him and said, “Nice to see you in Miami,” to which Swalwell replied, “Thank you.”
“But when the hotel guest went on to ask about his lack of face covering and if he was vaccinated, Swalwell was left ‘speechless,’ according to the source,” the Daily Mail reported.
Of course, stuff like this seldom happens in a vacuum: “Swalwell’s trip to Florida — which has been widely criticized by liberals over its lax covid rules — comes days after fellow Democrat [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] was photographed having lunch with her boyfriend Riley Roberts in Miami,” the Daily Mail reported.
“Former Trump advisor Steve Cortes shared a photo of the sighting on Twitter Friday, questioning why the New York congresswoman had been ‘frolicking in free Florida’, while advocating for mask and vaccine mandates in her home state.”
In California, NPR reported Wednesday, indoor mask mandates were extended to Feb. 15. In New York, meanwhile, the Democrat & Chronicle reported their statewide mask mandate will be extended until Feb. 1 with exceptions only for indoor businesses with a vaccination requirement for entry. Florida has no mask mandates or vaccine passports.
So, why travel there if you’re a Californian and a mask scold?
“The Congressman was in the Sunshine State to take official meetings and campaign to help Democrats keep the House,” Swalwell’s office said, according to the Daily Mail.
“He loves Florida and has dozens of family members there. It is lies from unvaccinated Republicans that are prolonging the pandemic.” If there were any specific lies the congressman’s office took issue with, however, they went unmentioned by the publication.
However, Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis may have said it best before the Swalwell pictures broke on Monday, when he blasted the hypocrisy.
“If I had a dollar for every lockdown politician that decided to escape to Florida over the last two years, I’d be a pretty doggone wealthy man,’ DeSantis said during a media briefing. “Congresspeople, mayors, governors, you name it.”
“I think a lot of Floridians will say ‘wait a minute, you’re bashing us because we’re not doing your draconian policies and yet we’re the first place you want to flee to…to be able to enjoy life,'” he added. Still, he said he was “happy though that Florida is a place where people know they can come, they can live like normal people and they can make their own decisions.”
And as for having the last word, remember the House Judiciary GOP tweet that touched off Swalwell’s rant? Well, they had something to say about it, too:
Democrats:
-Enact mask mandates
-Flee to Florida to avoid the mask mandates they enacted
Rinse. Repeat. https://t.co/xcngdhH0rr
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) January 6, 2022
If Florida is so dangerous, Mr. Swalwell, — and if it’s a state run by the kind of people responsible for “canceled vacations” and “prolonging” the COVID pandemic — do your part by canceling your vacation. But you weren’t going to, of course, because you believe that rhetoric every bit as much as I do.
It’s good that you got your annual faux pas out of the way so early, though. Can’t wait to see what you’re cooking up for 2023.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
