News/Commentary

‘BIG Oof’: Pro-Trump Florida rep’s remark about GOP candidates ‘not able’ to face Tucker backfires

July 16, 2023 | | Print Article

A pro-Trump congresswoman allegedly accidentally insulted former President Donald Trump while speaking Saturday at Blaze Media’s 2023 Family Leadership Summit.

As previously reported, the summit has been centered around conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, who’s been interviewing GOP presidential candidates.

Like other summits, it’s also involved public speeches, including one by Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna in which she chastised the GOP presidential candidates who’d refused for whatever reason to sit down with Carlson for an interview.

“People will show you exactly who they are under pressure. And when you have candidates not able to face Tucker Carlson, do you think that they have any business sitting in the Oval Office? Do you think they would be able to stand up to the United Nations? What about the World Health Organization? How about the CDC?” she said.

Listen:

Pretty good speech, right? There was just one problem …

The man whom she supports, Trump, didn’t even attend the summit, meaning — his critics argue — that according to Luna’s logic, he’s not fit to be president.

“BIG Oof,” as one critic put it.

After all, the critic added, “Trump didn’t have the courage to face Tucker.”

“Wait.. does she not realize what she just said? @realannapaulina just declared Donald Trump ineligible for office!” another critic tweeted.

Trump haters were for their part very pleased by the gaffe.

Look:

However, Luna and her supporters vehemently pushed back on this narrative by arguing that Trump has already sat with Carlson for multiple interviews.

“Trump has done multiple sit downs with @TuckerCarlson. I wasn’t talking about him. Stop clipping my speech to force a fake narrative,” the congresswoman tweeted.

Notice what she said about “clipping my speech.” Later during the same speech, she did praise Trump and say he’s the best candidate for president.

“[We’ve been] meeting with these foreign leaders, and they’re telling us ‘we need Trump back.’ They’re waiting for us to shine again, be the beacon of light and freedom in this country and on the world stage. I’m telling you right now, he’s gonna win, and we’re going to be there every step of the way,” she said.

Listen:

What remains unclear is why Trump abstained from attending the summit. Some believe it’s because this weekend coincided with the one-year anniversary of the death of Trump’s first wife, Ivana.

Moreover, speaking with People magazine last week, a longtime friend of Ivana’s — Nikki Haskell, 82 — revealed that the entire Trump family was so floored by her death that they’re still getting over it.

“Haskell says she still hasn’t gotten over her grief, which she shares with Trump’s children, Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric,” People magazine reported.

“The children were hit hard when it happened, and still miss her sense of humor, love of life, and energy for the projects and people she loved,” an unnamed insider told the paper.

According to People, Trump “also shares in that sorrow.”

“She was a great mother, and the most electrifying women I’ve ever met. At the funeral, I can’t even begin to tell you. I’ve never seen Donald so sad and overwhelmed by anything,” Haskell said.

But on the other hand, this weekend’s summit is NOT the only example of Trump bowing out of an important event where he would have been challenged. The former president has also suggested he may not attend any 2024 GOP primary debates.

“I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them,” he wrote on Truth Social back in April.

He doubled down early last month.

“Trump’s campaign believes his opponents need the primary debates more than he does because they’re behind him in polls. And Trump — feeling slighted by Fox News’ coverage of DeSantis, has indicated that he’s wary of the network hosting debates,” Axios reported at the time.

Later that month, he tripled down.

“On Wednesday, the former president spoke with a reporter from Reuters. … Asked if he would participate in the first presidential primary debate in late August, he replied, ‘possibly not,'” The Washington Post reported.

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Vivek Saxena
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