Rachel Bitecofer, a political analyst and senior adviser to the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, faced online criticism Sunday for mocking a Trump supporter's clunker.
Bitecofer responded to a photo in an earlier post that showed a modest one-story home in Los Angeles with three flags on the garage: an American flag, a pro-Trump flag, and an "Impeach Biden" flag. Sitting outside the garage is an older cream-colored car. The original poster captioned the photo: "Spotted in Los Angeles, the fun neighbor."
Bitecofer posted, "Republican voter who can’t even afford a car from this century."
Rachel Bitecofer speaks on stage at the "2020 Vision: Political Roundtable" panel at the on November 07, 2019 in New York City. (Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company, File)
The original poster said that the neighborhood is not disadvantaged and the home can probably fetch $1 million. But Bitecofer's follow-up comment irked some who saw it as elitist.
"What is the point of this Tweet, Rachel?" Christina Pushaw, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' press secretary, tweeted.
"That poor people are gross and stupid and that's why they're Trump supporters," Glenn Greenwald, the influential Substack journalist, responded.
Greenwald continued, "Lincoln Project luminary mocks Trump supporter for having an old car and not being able to afford a new one. Send more of your cash to the Lincoln Project. As a result of your #Resistance generosity, they can definitely afford new cars."
Ari Melber, Rick Wilson, Rachel Bitecofer and Neera Tanden attending the Fast Company Innovation Festival in November 2019, in New York City. (Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company, File)
The Financial Times described Bitecofer as a "left-leaning political analyst" who co-founded Strike PAC, which, according to its website, aims to revolutionize "how Democrats campaign from top to bottom, enabling them to effectively compete against the Republican Party."
"Democratic messaging has tended to focus on short-term, complex policy issues rather than year-round messaging that appeals to voters’ emotions and guts. STRIKE PAC appeals to hearts and minds and imparts a sense of urgency and what is at stake if we do not win elections," the statement read.
The Lincoln Project did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from Fox News. Bitecofer did not immediately respond to a message on Twitter seeking comment.
This was far from the first controversy surrounding the Lincoln Project. Earlier this year, following reports of sexual misconduct, co-founder John Weaver admitted he sent "inappropriate" sexual messages to multiple men, and apologized. The group denounced his behavior. However, further reports indicated other Lincoln Project co-founders knew about the allegations, yet the alleged harassment continued, despite their insistence they were unaware. The group's founders have taken steps to disband – after diverting tens of millions of dollars in donations to their own firms, records showed.
The Washingtonian, in 2020, reported that Bitecofer is a former professor at Virginia’s Christopher Newport University who "accurately called the 2018 mid-term elections and became kind of the thing on Twitter." She is active on social media and was even congratulated last summer by Jaime Harrison, the Democratic National Committee chairman, when she announced her new PAC.
She recently spoke to Salon about the result from the elections earlier this month that saw Republican Glenn Youngkin win in Virginia. She told the website that Republicans are good at scaring their voter base to head to the polls.
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