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Steve Scalise

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U.S. Congressman

The Resume

    (October 6, 1965- )
    Born in New Orleans, Louisiana
    Birth name is Stephen Joseph Scalise
    Republican
    Chairman of the 170-member conservative House Republican Study Committee
    Representative for Louisiana's 1st congressional district, serving since 2008
    Ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
    Previously served 4 months in the Louisiana State Senate; 12 years in the Louisiana House of Representatives
    Elected to serve as Majority Whip of the House of Representatives, assuming office on August 1, 2014
    Came under fire after political revealed he had given a 2002 speech to the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO), a White Supremacist group founded by David Duke (Dec. 2014)

Why he might be annoying:

    He identified as a 'David Duke Republican' while serving in local Louisiana politics.
    He voted against a state resolution apologizing for slavery.
    He twice voted against bills that would have established Martin Luther King Day as a state holiday, as recently as 2004.
    He fired the more fiscally conservative staffers of the Republican Study Committee, accusing them of 'leaking.'
    He relied on a prominent DC lobbyist to interview his potential staffers.
    His unexpected political fortune was only possible after Eric Cantor was forced out of office by his constituents, bumping him into Kevin McCarthy's old House Whip position.
    The shoe about his 2002 speech was dropped only a day before the 2015 Congress was set to be sworn in, putting the Republicans in an awkward position about his ascendance to a top tier leadership position in Washington.
    The flap also came after conservative members of Congress had attempted to oust Speaker Boehner from his leadership position, resulting in influential Republicans circling the wagon around him, effectively brushing the whole issue under the rug.
    He predictably claimed to have had no idea about the racial and anti-Semitic affiliations of the group he addressed, blaming the mistake on a staffer who failed to vet the group.
    He also tried to claim that he attended the conference to address concerns he had over a tax plan he disagreed with (which hadn't even been filed in the state legislature at the time of the speech's delivery).
    This alibi falls apart when one takes into account that the organizer of the event, who extended a personal invitation to Scalise, was also his across-the-street neighbor (whose ties to David Duke he was aware of).
    It remains unclear as to whether or not, by bragging about being 'David Duke without the baggage,' he was basically saying that he was a 'white supremacist who could actually get elected,' although his colleagues clearly gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He is a member of the American Italian Renaissance Foundation.
    He is the first Louisianan to hold the Majority Whip title, since Democrat Hale Boggs (1962-1971).
    He was a vocal critic of Tony Hayward's handling of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
    David Duke called him 'a fine family man’ (which didn't necessarily help his case...)
    Accusing lawmakers on both sides of the aisle of 'crucifying' Scalise, Duke also issued a veiled threat to release a list of names of all politicians with whom he had ties.
    Duke eventually grew disenchanted with Scalise, later calling him 'a sellout' 'elected on false pretenses' and expressing an interest in primarying him for his House seat (Jan. 29, 2015).
    Although Republican insiders reflexively defended him, he was roundly eviscerated for his associations by prominent conservatives like Mark Levin, Greta Van Susteren, Sarah Palin and Sean Hannity.
    He was shot, and injured, at a GOP baseball practice (June 14, 2017).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 98 Votes: 45.92% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 166 Votes: 51.20% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 328 Votes: 50.91% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 102 Votes: 47.06% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 118 Votes: 51.69% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 353 Votes: 49.01% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 145 Votes: 47.59% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 515 Votes: 57.48% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 38 Votes: 57.89% Annoying