Four Republican congressman hold nothing back in dishing about their gripes with Washington in a new video series that will be released on Facebook next week.
Reps. Tom Garrett (R-Va.), Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Dave Brat (R-Va.) and Rod Blum (R-Iowa) each tell their stories about fighting the system in a trailer for “The Swamp,” which was obtained by The Hill.
In the 2:25 clip, the congressmen show what goes on behind the scenes in Washington, taking on former House Speaker John Boehner and former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor by name.
Blum, for example, spoke of a time Boehner scolded him.
“[Boehner] pointed to me and said, ‘I just want you to know around here, we don't reward bad behavior,’” Blum says. “This is bullshit. You know, I'm a grown adult who’s accomplished something in life — I don't need you telling me what is right or wrong.”
Cantor’s defeat was also highlighted.
“The machine said, 'No, you can't run for that seat,' and I said, 'I don't understand this machine thing,'” Brat says about the 2014 GOP primary.
Buck, who was elected to Congress in 2014, said he felt pressure from leadership shortly after he arrived as a freshman member.
“Right when I got here, the orientation was, was just unbelievable in the sense that we were being treated like some kind of animal,” he says.
Garrett expressed his disappointment with being told to support legislation he doesn’t agree with because of President Trump’s need for a win. It’s not clear what bill he is referring to.
“He has to have a victory, really?” he says. “At what point did any one person become more important than what was the best for individuals in this nation to fulfill their individual dreams?” […]
Buck says that “most of [his] colleagues are afraid of losing.”
“That’s their biggest fear,” he said. (The Hill)
The project was taken on by Matt Whitworth, the executive producer and creator, who told The Hill he pitched the idea to members from both sides of the political aisle as a way to show Americans the “private sort of backroom grumblings between rank-and-file members.”
“I don't think anyone ever really told the story about what goes on behind the scenes in D.C., you know, from the perspective of sitting members. So we really wanted to tell that story in a way that was sort of raw and unfiltered and frankly shocking,” he said.
“The inspiration came from actually just having private conversations with different members and sort of hearing their frustrations, and you know, hearing some of the war stories from Congress,” he added.
Based on the trailer alone, it looks like a series voters won’t want to miss.
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