On this date in 2014, 2015, as well as 2016, as well as 2017, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” posted profiles of former Congressman Ryan Zinke, from what was, at the time, Montana's At-Large Congressional District. Zinke is a former Navy Seal (whose retirement was forced due to an undisclosed disciplinary matter, and who has been criticized by several former colleagues) who has blamed both President Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Benghazi attacks, suggesting impeachment for the former and calling the latter the Anti-Christ.
Zinke is also a proud climate change denier, called for the militarization of the U.S./Mexico border, and bragged about having personally water-boarded people as a positive trait that made him a better candidate than a Democrat he was debating. As a Congressman, Zinke has voted for all anti-abortion legislation he could, and opposed LGBTQ rights at every turn. He voted against the nuclear treaty with Iran, tried to do what he could to block the acceptance of Syrian refugees, and voted to defund the Department of Homeland Security in a protest against President Obama's executive orders on immigration.
Zinke once even hosted a reception for a former general, Paul Vallely, who offered himself as the leader for a military coup against the Obama administration to Tea Party Republicans (an insurrectionist before it was fashionable for the GOP).Zinke spoke on the opening night of the 2016 Republican National Convention, giving a fear-mongering speech about foreign threats, and that was enough to earn him a spot in Donald Trump’s “Cabinet of Horrors”, getting the nod to be his Interior Secretary. He ran his office at the Department of the Interior like it was a military base, including raising and lowering a flag if he’s in or not on a given day. And, like so, so many members of Donald Trump’s Cabinet, it’s not just that they’re unqualified, it’s that they’re so blatantly corrupt. Ryan Zinke fit the profile, as like former Health Secretary Tom Price, he was soon investigated by federal watchdogs for abusing his travel budget.
Unlike Price, Zinke didn’t immediately resign. And then came a second investigation, as an energy company from his home town that has only existed for 2 years was somehow awarded a $300 million contract to rebuild Puerto Rico’s damaged power grid by Zinke’s Department. Zinke insisted it was just all a coincidence, and attacked the media for investigating him. And then literally a dozen more “coincidences” happened, as the number of federal investigations into corruption at Zinke’s Department of the Interior continued to snowball, and the deputy charged with being the watchdog at the Department of the Interior referred Zinke to the Department of Justice back on Halloween of 2018, and resigned from the Trump White House ON Dec. 15th, 2018.
After the 2020 census, Montana was granted a second Congressional District, and with Matt Rosendale sitting in the new MT-2, Ryan Zinke opted to run for Congress in Montana’s new 1st Congressional District in 2022,winning office with a mere 49.6% of the vote, and forcing us to have to re-open his profile for the first time in six years. This was in spite of the fact that his wife listed their primary residence as being in California, and news reports that he knowingly misled the investigators looking into him while he served at the Dept. of the Interior.
Zinke remains a moronic, corrupt white nationalist, sponsoring legislation in November of 2023 to expel all Palestinians from the United States. The sooner he is replaced in office, the better.
One Year Ago, December 7th, 2022: Kevin Clarkson (AK)
Two Years Ago, December 7th, 2021: James Dickens (HI)
Three Year Ago, December 7th, 2020: Steve Negron (NH)…2020 Update
Four Years Ago, December 7th, 2019: Steve Negron (NH)…Original Profile
Five Years Ago, December 7th, 2018: Cynthia Dunbar (VA)
Six Years Ago, December 7th, 2017: Ryan Zinke (MT)…2017 Update
Seven Years Ago, December 7th, 2016: Ryan Zinke (MT)… 2016 Update
Eight Years Ago, December 7th, 2015: Ryan Zinke (MT)… 2015 Update
Nine Years Ago, December 7th, 2014: Ryan Zinke (MT)…Original Profile
