A Nation at Crossroads - A 2024 Election Game (Gameplay Thread)

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https://www.cantonrep.com/news/20190107/from-catching-touchdowns-to-casting-votes-anthony-gonzalez-promises-to-deliver

Congressman Gonzalez's Presidential Launch Rally

Canton, Ohio

Congressman Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16)- Good afternoon Ohio, I am so glad to be here in my state and in my home district because I got a big announcement for you today. For the last six years in Congress, serving the great state of Ohio *Loud Appaulous*, I have constantly seen the dysfunction and corruption that runs rampant throughout Washington. We can no longer have a blind eye to the failures of our current systems allowing this corruption that has removed popular sovereignty from our system. We must once again bring back the people's voice not only to the Congress like what I have been trying to do for the past six years, but we must do the same at the statehouse, in the state legislature and most importantly in the White House. That is why today, I am announcing that I will join the presidential field *Cheers* so the people can have a candidate in this race that has not been bought and sold by the powerful and wealthy in Washington. With your help, we will drain the swamp and we will rid corruption from Washington D.C. so once again we can have a true Republic government. I promise, as your president, I will pass an anti-corruption law within the first three months of my administration so we no longer are wondering if our elected leaders are being corrupted by an outside source and if they truly are representing you *Loud Cheers*.

Not only will I fight corruption with your help, but I will also help strengthen the Republican party. We can no longer be the party of the old white man and excpet to win. I am very willing to admit the Republican party has not only a gender problem, but we have a race problem and we have an age problem. We can no longer nominate old white men and expect to win these crucial elections, that is exectly what we have been trying to do for the last decade and we are figuring out now, it's not working. As a Hispanic and the youngest candidate in this race, I will grow the base of the Republican party and make sure we are the party of America. We can't be the party of America unless we start looking like America and by nominating me for the president of the United States, it will send a clear message to the voters that the Republican party is open not only to all ideas but to all races and genders and orientations and ages *Loud Appaulous*.

I am your conservative candidate for the president of the United States of America and I am ready to fight for America to restore the dreams of the founding fathers of Popular Sovereignty and fair Representation and the protection of the human rights granted to all human beings by our creator. I am Anthony Gonzalez and I am ready to serve you. *Loud Cheers* *Chants of "Anthony"*

https://thehill.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumb_small_article/public/gonzalezanthony_113018gn_lead.jpg?itok=Z213LkNG

Gonzalez for America Press Realse

During the past month as the presidential campaign started to kick into full gear, Anthony Gonzalez at not only the future of the party but also the future of the nation and how he could best help the nation as a whole. Earlier this week, Anthony Gonzalez decided to forgo a run for the Senate and has officially announced he will be running for president of the United States. Even though there was internal pressure from upper-level senators asking Gonzalez to run for senate, Anthony believes that race is very winnable with almost any candidate as Sherrod Brown has decided to run for president instead of senate, and Anthony also believes he can do the most good for the country by running for president of the United States. Anthony Gonzalez has a clear vision for the future, the same vision that the founding fathers had, a nation that would give the power to the people and have a federal government that's job is not to create thousands of welfare programs but have a government that protects human rights. Congressman Gonzalez made this clear during his announcement speech earlier today and he also made clear the need for a change in the party. This was another big reason, Congressman Gonzalez decided to forgo a Senate run, he believes he can make more change to the party as a candidate for president then as even an elected Senator. As not only Hispanic but also the youngest candidate in the entire field, Congressman Gonzalez doesn't only represent the views of Americans but he can also relate to the new demographics in America that the Republican party has so far failed to capture. Congressman Gonzalez has a clear path to victory and has made clear his goals as president, something other candidates have yet to do even as they have been in the race for months.

The campaign has talked with Fox News and Congressman Gonzalez will have an invite to the upcoming debate to showcase his ideas to a national audience. Anthony has already started preparing and is hoping for a lively and educational debate among the other candidates, such as Senator Rubio, Governor Noem, Governor DeSantis, and Mr. Shapiro.

The campaign believes Congressman Gonzalez has a strong case for voters in Iowa, with his midwest appeal, in Nevada, with the large Hispanic voting population, and South Carolina, with his strong military support and conservative stances. The congressman will take a tour of those three states, spending three days in each, after the debates. The campaign has not written off New Hampshire and we will continue to put resources in the state but so far no campaign stops have been scheduled in New Hampshire. The campaign has already hired political directors for each of the four early primary states. In Iowa, the political director is Nick Boeyink who was a field organizer for both the Polk county Republicans and Kim Reynold's bids. In New Hampshire, Christopher Ellms will serve as state director and has a long history serving along Governor Chris Sununu on the campaign and in the Governor's mansion. In South Carolina, Ben Hitchcock will serve as State Director and he has worked for Fmr. Congressman Jim Renacci and Congressman Bob Gibbs. In Nevada, the role of state director will be taken by William Stokes who has worked throughout Nevada and worked as deputy political director for Dean Heller in 2018.

All the best,
Keith Schipper
Press Secretary, Gonzalez for America

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Congressman Gonzalez's Debate Answers

Opening Statements: I am Anthony Gonzalez, I am proud to represent the great state of Ohio in Congress and be able to serve the people I grew up beside, the people I live by and the people I work by. This has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life but I also have seen the major pitfalls in our current system. We have drifted away from the representative democracy our founding fathers had dreamed about and we have become a nation being dictated by a ruling class that has become corrupted. I am not part of that ruling class, I am a proud outsider that is just trying to do what is best for this country which passing conservative legislation. I have only spent six years in Congress, I was a professional football player which is the furthest thing from politics other than constantly butting heads. After I retired from the colts, I moved to business and I saw how government regulations and taxes were not only destroying the lives of the business but also the worker. That's why I first ran for congress, so I could cut the corruption, cut the red tape and cut the bullsh**t. I am running for president now for the same reasons, I will fight for business and I will fight for the worker. I am sick and tired of Democrats saying the way minimum wage workers can have a decent wage is by raising their wages, bullsh**t. The way we help those workers isn't by raising the wage which will hurt businesses or will lead workers hours to be cut which hurts the worker, the way to do it is by cutting taxes so you get to keep the money earned and the government can't just take thirty percent of your paycheck anymore and put it into programs like social security which will most likely never be seen. I am a conservative that will lower taxes, cut red tape and cut corruption. I am the candidate fighting for you, the workers and the bussinesses

General Question #1: I am not going to choose one and no Republican up here has to either because we are the open tent party. We are the party of all viewpoints from Liberal to moderate to a conservative like myself. That is why we have been able to win in these areas that have been dead zones for Republicans for years. We have had Republican governors in Massachusetts, and in Vermont and in Maryland and in Oregon. We didn't elect those governors in extremely blue states because Democrats just suddenly switched their view points. It's because this party is a big tent of all ideas and in the states that aren't conservative don't have to have an extremely conservative nominee. They can have moderates like Larry Hogan and Knute Buehler.

General Question #2: No President will be able to stop the Democratic machine from smearing every last supreme court justice we nominate. They will slam even the most Christian and most religious nominee to make them look like satan. Democrats in Washington are willing to do anything to destroy our nominees but we can do is work ten times harder spreading the facts of our nominees than they are working on destroying our nominee. As President, I will make sure to nominate pro-life judges who will uphold the constitution and before I nominate anyone I will dig so far into their background that nothing has been left to uncover so we will be prepared for the baseless smears. I'm ready to take on the Democrats attacks on my nominees to the supreme court, I know Mitch McConnell is too but what I really need to know is if you are ready to fight to strengthen a conservative majority on the Supreme Court

Closing Statements: Our party is the one of Lincoln, our party is the one of Reagan. The Democrats are trying to make us the party of Steve King and the party by pointing to candidates on this stage like Ben Shapiro who constantly defended Steve King and had made multiple other bigoted statements that would tear this country apart if he was the nominee. What our next nominee needs to do is by moving past the racist in this party who have been tearing down not only our a party but our country like Steve King and once again bring it to the party of Lincoln and Reagan. When I first ran for congress, I faced racist attacks for my primary opponent and understand how insulting it is. They make you feel like your viewpoints don't matter because your race, I don't want any candidate or citizen to believe that. As your nominee, I will bring our party past the racism in our party so we can once again fight for conservative judges, conservative values and for the American people.

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https://www.tmz.com/2018/11/07/jim-tressel-anthony-gonzalez-congress-election-ohio-state/

Congressman Gonzalez Schedule, August 2019

August 1st to 6th, 2023: Washington D.C.

August 1st to 5th, 2023
Washington D.C: Work in Congress

August 6th, 2023
Washington D.C: Work in Congress
Washington D.C: Fundraiser with Congressman Bob Gibbs
Washington D.C: Flight to Canton, OH

August 7th to August 12th, 2023: Ohio

August 7th, 2023
Canton, OH: Announcement Speech
Akron, OH: Meeting with Repubican State Legislature for Medina, Summit, Lorain, Morrow and Cuyahoga County
Youngstown, OH: Townhall with business leaders

August 8th, 2023
Canton, OH: Congressional Work

August 9th, 2023
Cleveland, OH: Fundraiser with Congressman Bob Gibbs
Columbus, OH: Fundraiser with Congressman Bob Gibbs and Senator Mary Taylor
Columbus, OH: Endorsement Rally with Senator Mary Taylor and Congressman Bob Gibbs
Cinnencatti, OH: Rally with Senator Mary Taylor

August 10th, 2023
Miami, OH: Meeting with Mayors and City Council members
Toledo, OH: Vist County Republican Party at fair
Toledo, OH: Speech to Women for Trump group

August 11th, 2023
Canton, OH: Open Gonzalez for America Campaign Headquarters
Canton, OH: Pep talk with volunteers and staff

August 12th, 2023
Canton, OH: Congressional Work
Canton, OH: Meeting with top staff and political director of early states
Medina, OH: Talk with Medina County Teenage Republicans

August 13th, 2023: Maryland

August 13th, 2023
College Park, Maryland: Open Gonzalez for America Campaign Headquarters
Washington D.C: Congressional Work

August 14th to 16th, 2023: South Carolina

August 14th, 2023
North Charleston, SC: Launch Early State bus tour through South Carolina, Iowa and Nevada called the "The Curroption Fighter"
Charleston, SC: Speech to South Carolina Republican Party
Charleston, SC: Meet and Greet with Republican Volunteers, followed by phone calls to potential voters
Charleston, SC: Meet with Former Representative Mark Sanford regarding endorsement

August 15th, 2023
Greensville, SC: Meet with Governor Eric Bolling and multiple State Senators
Greensville, SC: Townhall with Military Veterans
Colombia, SC: Press Conference detailing Military plan
Colombia, SC: First Republican Presidential Debate against Sen. Rubio, Gov. DeSantis, Gov. Noem, Mr. Shapiro, and Sen. Bobby Jindal

August 16th, 2023
Johnson, SC: Meet and Greet with potential voters
Cope, SC: Townhall with Bussiness leaders
Perry, SC: Rally and Fundraiser

August 17th to 18th, 2023: North Carolina, Tennesee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa

August 17th to 18th, 2023
NC, TN, KY, IN, IL, IA: Bus Trip from South Carolina to Iowa

August 19th to 21st, 2023: Iowa

August 19th, 2023
Des Moines, IA: Speech at Iowa State Fair
Des Moines, IA: Meet and Greet at Polk County Republicans meeting
Ames, IA: Speech to Ames Republican Party

August 20th, 2023
Cedar Falls, IA: Opening of Iowa Field Office
Cedar Falls, IA: Volunteer event to build enthusiasm with grassroots
Waterloo, IA: Doorknocking with staff and volunteers
Cedar Rapids, IA: Rally at Casey Pizza

August 21st, 2023
Sioux City, IA: Meet with Randy Feenstra
Cherokee, IA: Rally with Congressman Bob Gibbs over Agriculture
Sheldon, IA: Meet and Greet with farmers and Congressman Bob Gibbs

August 22nd to 23rd, 2023: Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Neveda

August 22nd to 23rd, 2023
NE, WY, UT, NV: Bus trip from Iowa to Nevada
UT: Meet with Governor Spencer Cox regarding endorsment

August 24th to 26th, 2023: Neveda

August 24th, 2023
Anderson, NV: Speech to Republican Hispanic Caucus
Anderson, NV: Commit to Caucus event
Eureka, NV: Speech to Eureka Republican Party

August 25th, 2023
Reno, NV: Lunch with Former Senator Dean Heller
Reno, NV: Meet and Greet with Nevada Republican Party
Sparks, NV: Fundraiser with Senator Mary Taylor
Sparks, NV: Women for Gonzalez Rally with Senator Mary Taylor

August 26th, 2023
Overton, NV: Meet and Greet with Local Ranchers
Henderson, NV: Rally with Senator Mary Taylor
Las Vegas, NV: End Bus Tour with the reveal of his Ending Corruption Legislation
Las Vegas, NV: Fly to Canton, OH

August 27th to 28th, 2023: Ohio

August 27th, 2023
Lorain, OH: Speech to Lorain County Republican Party
Lorain, OH: Meet with Congressman Jim Jordan regarding endorsement
Cleveland, OH: Fundraiser with Congressman Bob Gibbs

August 28th, 2023
Canton, OH: Congressional Work
Canton, OH: Meeting with Communications Director regarding messaging
Cleveland, OH: Rally with Congressman Bob Gibbs and Senator Mary Taylor
Cleveland, OH: Fly to Washington D.C.

August 29th to August 31st, 2023: Washington D.C. and Maryland

August 29th, 2023
College Park, MD: Speech to University of Maryland College Students
College Park, MD: Meet with Top Staff

August 30th, 2023
College Park, MD: Phone Calls with Staff and Volunteers
Washington D.C: Congressional Work
Washington D.C: Fundraiser

August 31st, 2023
Washington D.C: Congressional Work

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Shapiro's response to Congressman Gonzalez during 1st debate:

Closing Statements: Our party is the one of Lincoln, our party is the one of Reagan. The Democrats are trying to make us the party of Steve King and the party by pointing to candidates on this stage like Ben Shapiro who constantly defended Steve King and had made multiple other bigoted statements that would tear this country apart if he was the nominee.

"If I may respond with all due respect to congressman Gonzalez, what he just said was a flat out lie. There is no doubt that I am the most transparent candidate in this race when it comes to the issues. If you actually do the research surrounding what happened with Steve King you would know I spoke out without hesitation against his remarks and I never wasted my breath defending Steve King. I spoke out everywhere from my podcast or various articles that my opinion was that his remarks were indefensible and completely stupid. You would also know that I even donated money for his primary challenger in the 2020 elections! We should not be attacking each other and suggesting bigotry onto others. We know we are all on the same page when it comes to this stuff and what congressman Gonzalez is doing is completely divisive."

"In my book, "the right side of history" I consistently attacked white nationalism and the alt-right but of course many decide to ignore such things and claim bigotry on my end. This is ultimately a losing argument and these attacks won't do anyone any favors and it certainly won't help Americans across the nation. I know that what makes this country great is the fact that our values are not restricted to one group of people. The values of freedom, life, and liberty is for anyone in this country regardless of race or ethnicity and it's a beautiful thing and I agree with Congressman Gonzalez that those ideas should be celebrated."

Congressman Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16)-Mr. Shapiro, I am not calling you alt-right or a white nationalist. The point I am making is that if we nominate somebody who stood so close to Steve King for so long like yourself then they will continue to claim we are the party of racism or the party of Steve King. To address your first point, you had constantly stood by Congressman Steve King for years even while many other principled Republican started to call him out for his obvious racism. You waited years to call him out till the rest of the bandwagon had already called him out. You even campaigned with him and now you think everyone will just forget the years you licked his boots? I have faced racist attacks and I know how hurtful they are, that is why I never supported Steve King and will never support an obvious racist as you had for so many years. I will once again say, I don't think you are racist but if we nominate you then for the next four years we will once again be slammed for our racist past. It is time we move on from our past racism and once again obtain the mantle of Lincoln and Reagan, I will bring our party back to our roots and unite this country

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Gonzalez for America Press Release

RE: Hispanics' voice
August 17th, 2019
Gonzalez for America

To whom it may concern,
The Gonzalez for America campaign is thoroughly disappointed in the decision by the RNC and DNC to remove Nevada voters from the process by pushing back their caucus state. Congressman Gonzalez believes all voices need to be represented with Nevada in the early state mix, candidates are forced to address concerns of the west and Hispanics such as Immigration. With nearly 70% of Deleware being white, all minorities and everyone west of Iowa's viewpoints is being disenfranchised as few candidates will address voters who are not in the crucial early states. This is why Congressman Gonzalez has decided to skip Deleware and will continue to campaign in heavy minority states such as Florida and Nevada so every single voter can be heard from. In addition to skipping Deleware, Congressman Gonzalez will urge the RNC to move Nevada's caucus back to its original position in the early state lineup and urge the rest of the candidates to also to talk with the RNC about moving Nevada back up to its place in the early states. The political director for Congressman Gonzalez in Nevada, William Stokes, will continue working on building support but with limited resources, the Nevada team will no longer be growing past the currently employed staff.

All question regarding this press release please send to press@GonzalezforUSA.com

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Gonzalez Surrogate Scheadule

https://www.cleveland.com/open/2018/03/mary_taylor_has_become_one_of.html
Senator Mary Taylor (R-OH)

Senator Taylor was one of the earliest endorsers of Congressman Gonzalez and formally endorsed the Congressman at a rally in Columbus, Ohio two days after the official announcement. Taylor would join Gonzalez for some of the rest of Gonzalez's tour around the state and when she wasn't touring with the Congressman, she was doing fundraisers for the Congressman in Washington D.C. and around Ohio. Later in the month, Senator Taylor joined the Congressman in the last days of his bus tour in Nevada. Senator Taylor also joined Congressman Gonzalez's campaign in calling for the RNC to push back Deleware's primary and moving up Nevada or Colorado or another heavy minority state.


https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2018/09/rep_bob_gibbs_introduces_bill.html
Congressman Bob Gibbs (R-OH-07)

Congressman Gibbs was not only one of Congressman Gonzalez's presidential bid but also his congressional bid in 2018. Gibbs, like Senator Taylor, joined Congressman Gonzalez on many of his stops along his tour of Ohio and also fundraised with the Congressman's campaign in Ohio and in Washington D.C. Congressman Gibbs also joined Congressman Gonzalez on his bus tour in Iowa and was his main surrogate on Agriculture. As the former President of the Ohio Farmers Association, Congressman Gibbs will be a key asset to Congressman Gonzalez in Iowa, a state the campaign hopes will help him make an early mark.

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Shapiro's response to Congressman Gonzalez during 1st debate:

Closing Statements: Our party is the one of Lincoln, our party is the one of Reagan. The Democrats are trying to make us the party of Steve King and the party by pointing to candidates on this stage like Ben Shapiro who constantly defended Steve King and had made multiple other bigoted statements that would tear this country apart if he was the nominee.

"If I may respond with all due respect to congressman Gonzalez, what he just said was a flat out lie. There is no doubt that I am the most transparent candidate in this race when it comes to the issues. If you actually do the research surrounding what happened with Steve King you would know I spoke out without hesitation against his remarks and I never wasted my breath defending Steve King. I spoke out everywhere from my podcast or various articles that my opinion was that his remarks were indefensible and completely stupid. You would also know that I even donated money for his primary challenger in the 2020 elections! We should not be attacking each other and suggesting bigotry onto others. We know we are all on the same page when it comes to this stuff and what congressman Gonzalez is doing is completely divisive."

"In my book, "the right side of history" I consistently attacked white nationalism and the alt-right but of course many decide to ignore such things and claim bigotry on my end. This is ultimately a losing argument and these attacks won't do anyone any favors and it certainly won't help Americans across the nation. I know that what makes this country great is the fact that our values are not restricted to one group of people. The values of freedom, life, and liberty is for anyone in this country regardless of race or ethnicity and it's a beautiful thing and I agree with Congressman Gonzalez that those ideas should be celebrated."

Congressman Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16)-Mr. Shapiro, I am not calling you alt-right or a white nationalist. The point I am making is that if we nominate somebody who stood so close to Steve King for so long like yourself then they will continue to claim we are the party of racism or the party of Steve King. To address your first point, you had constantly stood by Congressman Steve King for years even while many other principled Republican started to call him out for his obvious racism. You waited years to call him out till the rest of the bandwagon had already called him out. You even campaigned with him and now you think everyone will just forget the years you licked his boots? I have faced racist attacks and I know how hurtful they are, that is why I never supported Steve King and will never support an obvious racist as you had for so many years. I will once again say, I don't think you are racist but if we nominate you then for the next four years we will once again be slammed for our racist past. It is time we move on from our past racism and once again obtain the mantle of Lincoln and Reagan, I will bring our party back to our roots and unite this country

Shapiro: "For the first time during this debate Congressman Gonzalez is actually right. I was a previous supporter of Steve King along with most other Republicans but what he utterly fails to mention is the fact that unlike so many politicians in the GOP I actually took responsibility and admitted when I was wrong before I even had any intention of running for office. On my website, the daily wire there is literally a list of my mistakes because I was actually willing to be held accountable for my past and that is the kind of person Americans need as leaders. We need politicians with integrity and the decency to hold themselves accountable and I did just that YEARS ago because I knew people weren't going to forget. So thank you, Congressman, for giving me the chance to strengthen my candidacy at this point with this weak argument."

"Congressman Gonzalez, at the end of the day I agree with you on the issue of race and I am sure everyone else on this debate stage does as well. We are on the same side and you need to stop holding onto this weak line of attack because I promise that this will not be productive for the country".

Congressman Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH-16)- It's great to hear that you agree with me now but for years when you weren't running for office, you made many racial insensitive comments along with supporting openly racist like Congressman King. I agree its good that you apologized but after so many comments that were obviously either racial incentive or just outright racist, we must ask ourselves if, if we truly want to move on from being the party of racism, should we nominate someone with such a sketchy past with race? I think we must move past our racist past and move forward with our party and we aren't moving forward if we nominate you as our nominee. You would continue us down a dark path that I don't want to see the end of and I don't think many on this stage would either especially since many are either women or a minority.

I am ready to lead not only our party but our nation past our racist and bigoted past, I don't trust Mr. Shapiro dealing with race but he will have to if he is president which is why we must not let that happen. And Mr. Shapiro, I don't believe every time you attack someone you are dividing the country, what is divisive is if I didn't attack you and propped you up even though I know your views on race are very divisive.

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Gonzalez for America Commercial #1

"Anthony Gonzalez"

Bought in Iowa, South Carolina, Nevada, Texas, Ohio

https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/former-ohio-state-nfl-wr-anthony-gonzalez-files-paperwork-to-run-for-congress

I am not a politician.  For most of my life, I was doing what I loved, I was playing football. I played for the Ohio State Buckeyes and then played for the Colts. After I retired in 2012, I decided to go back to Ohio State University and earned my master's degree in business and for the next six years, I work in multiple businesses across Ohio.

https://www.cleveland.com/open/2018/09/ohio_congressional_candidate_a.html

In 2018, I did something I had never thought about before. I decided to run for congress alongside many other first time candidates. We all wanted to take on a political industry that had made millions of Americans lives worse so they could stay in power. The problem wasn't just with the Republican or Democrat party, it was across party lines and it had to be challenged. I challenged the status quo and I won becoming the first Hispanic congressmember from Ohio. For the last six years, I have been fighting night and day to pass the conservative agenda to cut spending and help businesses. Now, I am ready to take my fight to the White House. This is why I am running for President of the United States of America. I am not a politician, I am Anthony Gonzalez and I am ready to fight for you.

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https://www.wtap.com/content/news/Lt-Governor-Mary-Taylor-begins-campaigning-in-Marietta--436398013.html

Senator Mary Taylor Discusses Gonzalez's Debate

Colombia, SC August 15th, 2019

Senator Mary Taylor (R-OH)- First, I would like to thank Fox News for giving Congressman Gonzalez to address the American people on the Debate Stage. Now, I am Mary Taylor, the Freshman Senator from Ohio and I am so glad to be one of Anthony Gonzalez's surrogates in the spin room tonight. As a Senator from Ohio, I have been able to see the great leader he is for the people and the state of Ohio and I was proud to endorse him a little less than a week ago. The leadership I have seen him show in Ohio is the same leadership that he showed on the debate stage tonight. Every single answer he hit out of the park whether it was talking about confirming judges or talking about race or talking about conservative values. Congressman Gonzalez proves he knows that the Republican party is the big tent that accepts every gender, every race and we accept a wide range of viewpoints that can make this country better. Now, I would like to address reporters questions surrounding the debate.

Reporter #1- In one of the most heated exchanges of the night was when Congressman Gonzalez questioned Ben Shapiro's past support and statements regarding race issues, who do you believe won that exchange?

Senator Mary Taylor (R-OH)-It was very clear who won that exchange, I think the people in the crowd and watching at home know Congressman Gonzalez clearly not only won that exchange with Mr. Shapiro but is the clear candidate if the party wants to move past its sketchy past with racism. I know Mr. Shapiro apologized for these past comments and support and I believe in giving second chances because things can be misinterpreted but this wasn't just a one-time thing, this wasn't even a two-time thing. Ben Shapiro was constantly made comments that were on the verge of racism and he has supported openly racist politicians like Steve King in the past. Let me just list some of these past comments and suggestions by Mr. Shapiro: In 2018, he tried to argue that assuming all black people are criminals is a reasonable use of group data rather than racism. He allowed a video that portrayed Native Americans in stereotypical ways because "bad satire is satire". In 2017, Ben Shaprio defended a tweet by Steve King that said, "We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies." Already, that is three clear examples of problems starting to develop with a Shapiro candidacy. With Democrats putting all they can in this election to win, we can't put up damage candidates. We must put up the best leaders who will represent our country and that leader is Anthony Gonzalez.

Reporter #2- Both Senator Jindal and Governor Noem were asked about how they would introduce themselves to the country, I am wondering since Congressman Gonzalez is probably less known than both of them, how he would introduce himself.

Senator Mary Taylor (R-OH)- Anthony Gonzalez is a leader for all Americans, not just for the Republican party or the Democratic party but for the American citizen. He wasn't raised in a rich household, he was able to pay for college because of football. He never thought he would be a politician but it 2018, it was clear that he had to run for congress and fight a political machine that had been hurting too many Americans for decades. Now, he went into congress and is now fighting for the conservative agenda. Today, he wants to take his fight to the White House where he will fight to end the trade war, cut spending, cut taxes and cut regulations. Gonzalez is the leader we need for these times and I am proud to introduce him to the nation tonight.

Reporter #3- Who do you think won the debate? Who lost the debate? Who impressed you other than the Congressman?

Senator Mary Taylor (R-OH)-Congressman Gonzalez clearly was the one that stood out tonight and I think he won the debate. He won the arguments and I think his clips will be in the media tomorrow especially that fiery exchange with Mr. Shapiro which was a clear Gonzalez win. After this debate and a post-announcement bump, I wouldn't be surprised if you start to see Congressman Gonzalez cimb up in the polls. I think at the next debate that Congressman Gonzalez definitely could be in the top three at least in Iowa and South Carolina, if not nationally. To your second question, I don't think anyone did terrible tonight or even lost the debate. I do think there were a few rough moments for a few campaigns that could play badly but I doubt in serious damage to any candidate was done tonight. I think everyone held their ground and did very well and proved how strong many of them could be against the Democratic nominee. Now to your third point, I was impressed by the strong slate of candidates we have up on stage. Congressman Gonzalez obviously impressed me the most but I definitely saw some strong moments from both Governor Noem and Vice-President Rubio. Overall, Congressman Gonzalez clearly won and what we all know is that the Republican party should be proud to have such a strong slate of diverse voices representing the party. Thanks, y'all! I will see you at the next debate

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Gonzalez for America Press Release

RE: Shapiro v. Gonzalez Debate
August 22nd, 2023
Gonzalez for America

Last week, the biggest moment was at the end of the debate as sparks flew between Congressman Gonzalez and Mr. Shapiro regarding past bigoted comments by Mr. Shapiro. The clips have been constantly been shared and both candidates and their surrogates have answered questions about the clash so the campaign wanted to make one thing clear: Congressman Gonzalez is right. Mr. Shapiro has constantly made racially insensitive comments, supported and endorsed politicians who made racist comments and continued to employ people who made racist and sexist comments. Truly, Congressman Gonzalez is right, if we put Ben Shapiro against any Democrat, they will tear him and the Republican party apart. It is time to move on from the racism in the party and move again to be the party of Reagan and Lincoln and believed in conservatism and protecting all human rights. Mr. Shapiro tries to brush off the comments and support because he wasn't running. What is really telling of a person character isn't when they are on the national stage but what they do when the cameras aren't on them. These comments give us a clear view of who Mr. Shapiro truly is. Yes, he did apologize for some of these comments and the Congressman believes in second chances but this isn't just a one or two or even three-time thing, constantly Mr. Shapiro makes comments that will be a huge liability to him and the party in November. In a highly contested election where both sides will be fighting like hell to win, we can not put up such a damaged nominee that will almost certainly lead us to a loss. Congressman Gonzalez is a proven winner, he has constantly won by double digits in a rural-suburban district, a type of district the Republican party needs to win in November to retain the White House. As demographics in this country change towards more minorities and more youth, we must put up a candidate that looks like an America and represents America to win in the General Election. Congressman Gonzalez will win the White House and will keep conservative leadership in the White House. Win or lose the primary, Congressman Gonzalez is also committed to delivering strong wins in the House and the Senate for the Republican party.

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