I’m back writing about my MAGA House representative Riley Moore because this story dropped on Tuesday:

Rep. Riley Moore of West Virginia is the subject of the behind-the-scenes effort being waged by some Trump administration officials, fellow GOP lawmakers, lobbyists and industry officials, according to nearly 20 people with knowledge of the effort.   

Wait, what?

As a former welder and one of a handful of elected Republicans with close ties to organized labor, Moore has fans in the GOP both on and off Capitol Hill. Some have suggested Trump could aim to have him start later in the year, when his absence would not have as much impact in the House.

“A former welder”? He never supported himself as a welder; it was a part-time job he had as a college student. And “close ties to organized labor”? Did the authors even do any research? This is the only thing Riley has done to support labor:  co-sponsoring a nothing burger bill:

A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to require employers to post notice regarding the rights and protections under that Act, and for other purposes.

Yes, Riley’s reputation as an ally of labor is his support for putting a poster up where necessary.

Then there’s this:

Moore is a member of a storied West Virginia political family that includes GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, his aunt. Despite serving only 18 months, he is viewed as a close White House ally — for instance, traveling to an El Salvador prison last year to vouch for a Trump plan to send migrants deported from the U.S. there.

There’s also his grandfather, Arch, who went to jail after many crimes while in office as governor, and the main reason Riley got elected in the first place—the stupid Moore family where everyone is named Moore in some way so they can remind you they are related to a criminal.

But the truly galling thing in that piece of hagiography is the reference to his trip to El Salvador, as illustrated by the cover photo for this piece. Riley loves to blather on about God and about how pious he is, but he rushed to El Salvador to take this picture during the most solemn week in Christianity, Holy Week, while he was mocking suffering people who were illegally deported without due process to a prison camp.

I can’t tell you how shocking this still is to many of us here in WV, and these 2 so-called reporters gloss over it as if it were a perfectly normal thing for a decent person to do. Hell, they even present it as a bonus to his possible appointment. Hmm…it almost reads as if they were handed a script, huh?

The rest of the article hand wrings over the possible narrowing of the GOP House majority and his chances of getting through the confirmation process. None of that is relevant though, because the entire story is made up.

First, we have an acting Secretary of Labor, Keith Sonderling, who took over after the first SOL, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, resigned in April after we found out she was misappropriating federal funds for personal travel, drinking on the job, having an affair with one of her subordinates, etc. Oh and her husband appears to have sexually assaulted DOL employees. “Be Best”, indeed.

Now Sonderling does not seem to have fucked up an any major way so far so it seems weird that there is such a push to replace him.

Riley generally struggles for content for his social media feeds because he doesn’t do anything of note. Back in May, he made a big deal about visiting a local trade school:

He then reposted stuff about that visit on June 2 for no discernible reason (at the time), and now today suddenly after the Politico story that weird and forced repeated tweet is pinned on his feed.

These people are not subtle.

Then there’s this:

But the idea that Moore could get the Labor job is getting sharp pushback from some White House officials who say Trump supports acting Secretary Keith Sonderling, and many Trump officials want to see Sonderling stay in the role.

Translation:  Who the fuck is this guy and why would we nominate him?

And this:

Moore has also privately expressed interest in the job during recent conversations with fellow Republicans, according to two of the people, who were granted anonymity to disclose private conversations.

Oh, I bet Mr. I Will Do Anything To Work In DC And Be On TV (Except Actually Work) “expressed interest”.

And I want to return to this:

Rep. Riley Moore of West Virginia is the subject of the behind-the-scenes effort being waged by some Trump administration officials, fellow GOP lawmakers, lobbyists and industry officials, according to nearly 20 people with knowledge of the effort. (emphasis added)

“Twenty people”?

And there’s the tell. One or two high-placed sources leaking this is perhaps credible. Twenty weirdos who think Riley “Rick Rattler” Moore is qualified to be a cabinet secretary after decades of being a nepo baby is an organized snow job.

This is a fake story planted by Riley to get his name out there. I guess the invitations to go on FOX have slowed down and he needed something to raise his profile, so he went public on his own personal crusade to get a job where he doesn’t have to do anything and doesn’t have to worry about pesky committee work getting in the way of standing in front of a camera. Plus anyone seriously researching this story would have pointed out that since Riley has fronted a rock band he could save the administration money by getting the band back together to play department functions for free.

Don’t get me wrong:  I would LOVE it if Riley resigned to become SOL. He has an excellent Democratic challenger and that would give his campaign a boost. I just don’t think we’re going to be that lucky.

I’ll leave you with this: