Texas Republicans including House Speaker Dennis Bonnen have been making political headlines lately, but not for doing Republican things. Recently Politics Elections has done a series of stories, regarding the weak stance the top three State Republican officials have had thus far on protecting historical monuments.
Governor Gregg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen have been lobbied by constituents and other groups to protect Confederate monuments that some on the left are trying to take down. Recently the Lieutenant Governor was pressed hard on the issue and gave a somewhat watered down response.
To make matters worse, House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, a Republican with a high rating by the NRA, has flipped on his base and those who advocate for him by effectively killing a bill called The Constitutional Carry Act of 2019.
According to our source, the House Speaker was in attendance at a Republican Party of Texas Annual Spring Dinner on April 9th also attended by Chris McNutt, the South Central Regional Director of the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR). McNutt has apparently been exposing Speaker Bonnen for blocking constituent calls and removing social media posts in support of the gun rights bill, H.B. 357 that has been high priority by Republicans for the past seven years. In effect, the evidence McNutt was uncovering shows that Speaker Dennis Bonnen is covertly trying to kill the bill.
This quote was given by Chris McNutt to “Gunpowder Magazine”:
“When the Speaker showed up at the event, from what I’m told, he went directly to where I was seated to confront me. And when he came up to me, he slapped his hand on my back pretty hard, and just started yelling at me. At the moment, I didn’t know what was going on or who it was, and then when I turned around, it was the Speaker of the Texas House, Dennis Bonnen, yelling at me in my face.
“He was saying things like, ‘Don’t ever come to my house again! Do not threaten my family! If you want to meet with me, you can come to my office.’ I just told him I was never a threat, and other than that, I didn’t really say anything, I felt like it was some sort of setup, because the whole thing has been manufactured from the beginning. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to provoke me and record it or what, so I just sat there and shut up.
“Bonnen then stormed out of the room. Multiple witnesses saw him put his hand on me and try to give me a public dressing down. It was pretty crazy.”
Many constituents and other groups are not happy and are taking to Twitter to voice their opinions, including the Tweet shown below.
SEE TWEET FROM “LONE STAR GUN RIGHTS”
These stories and more are very concerning to the traditionally very pro gun rights and conservative State of Texas. Are Republicans softening their hard line stances to pander to the growing base of moderates and Democrat voters, or do they simply need to be pressured more by constituents to do the right thing? Perhaps some need more pressure and some will be challenged by future candidates more willing to support the values of the people who elected them.
