Jim Jordan
Jim Jordan

Congressman Jim Jordan’s Republican clown car suffered a major PR misfire on April 17 as the “victims of violent crime in Manhattan” focused media attention on the rank hypocrisy of the GOP, which is in the pocket of the gun lobby.

If the GOP really wants to reduce the number of homicides in the Big Apple, it would shut down the “iron pipeline” that transports guns here from the red states.

Though more than 90 percent of homicides in New York involve a gun, Jordan’s committee took testimony from only witnesses of two stabbings.

Mark House, principal of Bronx Engineering and Technology Academy, cut to the core of the issue, saying unregulated guns, unrestricted sales and lack of background checks are reasons for any carnage in the city streets.

Speaking before the hearing, House said the failure of Congress to act on gun control is why he has to administer lockdown drills at this school.

“I have to teach our kids how to hide, how to secure the doors in their classrooms, how to stay quiet so somebody with a gun doesn’t hunt them down in their own school.”

Jordan and the GOP had no intention of dealing with the causes of violence. The hearings took a pass on any gun regulation and background checks.

The Ohio Congressman brought the House Judiciary Committee to the media capital of the world in an attempt to smear Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg for his “pro-crime, anti-victim agenda.”

The media saw through that charade (e.g. murders are down 14 percent in Manhattan) and covered the hearing for what it was: a bid to boost Donald Trump.

Poor pitiful Donald, who loves to play the role of the victim, faces 34 felony counts of cooking the books in the scheme to pay hush money to Stormy Daniels. Bad, bad Alvin filed those charges against Trump.

Jordan should think twice about staging his next publicity stunt in New York. New York’s press corps has exposed Jordan as the phony that he really is.

Blue-collar Joe gets it done. The US is poised for a boom in the manufacturing sector as Joe Biden’s industrial policies have triggered more than $200B in investments in the clean-tech and semiconductor sectors, according to research conducted by the Financial Times.

Since the August passing of The Chips Act and Inflation Reduction Act, the FT counted more than 75 announcements for large scale manufacturing initiatives.

Texas Instruments, LG Energy Solution, Tesla, Ford and Qcells plan the biggest projects.

Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, praised Biden’s plan as “generational, transformational change.”

Will Biden’s industrial policies boost his re-election bid? More than 75 percent of the investments are slated for Republican-held Congressional districts.

South Carolina and Georgia won the most new projects.

The Qcells solar plant is located in Dalton, GA, which is the district of firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene. Will she give Biden a thumbs-up?

The Congresswoman, who called the president a “pedophile” earlier this month during an interview with Lesly Stahl on “60 Minutes,” would rather dance with the devil than give Biden any credit for creating jobs in her district.

Escaping the Fox News echo chamber. If the GOP wants to attract independents and young voters, it has to escape the Fox News echo chamber, according to New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu.

He told a group of Republican donors that Fox panel discussions typically feature four guests who nod their heads in agreement with each other.

“They're talking in an echo chamber. What are you doing to grow the team,” he said.

Sununu said the GOP’s emphasis on low taxes, cutting taxes and local government control is an appealing product to people living outside the Fox bubble.

He believes Democratic-skewed MSNBC and CNN would welcome Republicans as guests, as long they are willing to break from the Fox News propaganda channel.

The Dominion Voting System lawsuit may encourage them to do so as Fox boss Rupert Murdoch avoids embarrassing court appearance as network makes a last-minute deal.