U.S. Representatives Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Andy Ogles (R-TN) last week voted against the $60 billion foreign aid bill to help Ukraine fight against the ongoing Russian invasion. The legislation passed the House and became part of the $95 billion package aid that passed the Senate and was signed by President Joe Biden.
The three MAGA members of Congress spoke afterwards on Gaetz’s podcast to “sound off,” as Gaetz reported.
Ogles said: “If I have to choose between America and another country’s border, I’m going to choose America. It’s a pretty simple calculation in my book.”
Luna said: “I’m not sponsored by the government of Ukraine. I represent the American people, and I don’t want mercenary armies.”
I’m here to represent the American people. It’s that simple, no matter what the blue-check mafia wants to tell you. @RepMattGaetz @RepOgles https://t.co/ZEERxep1k3
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) April 25, 2024
Still fuming over the passage of the foreign aid package and angered by those who voted in favor of the bill and waved Ukrainian flags on the House floor when it passed, Luna reposted the Matt Gaetz podcast and wrote: “I’m here to represent the American people. It’s that simple, no matter what the blue-check mafia wants to tell you.”
Luna uses the phrase “blue-check mafia” as a synonym for the so-called “uni-party” or any identifier that relies on approval by the MAGA-maligned “establishment.” Casting aspersions on “approved” or “verified” sources is ostensibly a display of one’s outsider credibility.
[NOTE: “Verified” status started becoming commensurate with elitism in certain circles back at least as far 2016. Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover altered the perception and distribution of the blue checks — X alternately sold them and gifted them — but the anti-establishment resistance to verification largely persists.]
Luna does not have a blue check on X, nor does Gaetz or Ogles. House Speaker Mike Johnson does. Donald Trump’s dormant X account also has a blue check.