FIRST ON FOX: White House officials who continue to use the slogan “MAGA” against Republicans “need to be fired,” according to President George W. Bush’s former ethics chief and former Democratic Senate candidate Richard Painter.
Fox News Digital caught up with Painter on a phone call Friday after the White House continued to use the “Make America Great Again” acronym despite the Office of Special Counsel’s (OSC) determination that its use violates the Hatch Act, legislation that prohibits elected officials and their staff from using government resources to engage in campaign activities.
Painter said it’s “a terrible, terrible idea” for the White House to continue using “MAGA” after press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was told that doing so violated the law, adding that officials ” they should stop doing that immediately.”
“I think it’s very important that they stop doing that,” he continued. “If the Office of Special Counsel says they have to stop doing it, that means they have to stop doing it, and we can’t flip them the bird on that. They have to comply with the interpretation of the Office of Special Counsel. of the Hatch Act.”
WHITE HOUSE EXPLODES LATCH ACT VIOLATION, CONTINUES TO USE ‘MAGA’ DESPITE WATCHDOG’S INTERNAL WARNING
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was told that using “MAGA” at the podium violated the Hatch Act, but Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates continues to use the term. (Win McNamee/Nicholas Kamm)
The OSC determined earlier this week that Jean-Pierre violated the Hatch Act by using the term “Mega MAGA” to attack Republican policies.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates sent out a memo Wednesday that continued to use the term, Axios reported. Bates stated in the memo that the Republicans’ “main issue on the economic agenda” is “MAGA tax welfare for the wealthiest Americans and giant corporations, at the expense of continuing to grow our economy by investing in America.” .
When asked about the ramifications of violating the Hatch Act, Painter said that with “serious” or “repeated” violations, a federal official could be “dismissed from federal service.”
“If someone keeps doing it when they’re told not to, they should be fired,” Painter said. “Or if they engage in a serious Hatch Act act once, they should be fired.”
“I mean, that’s the presumptive penalty for a serious violation of the Hatch Act or repeated violations when you’ve been told not to do it is to be fired,” Painter said. “Once the Office of Special Counsel says, ‘Don’t use MAGA, that’s a campaign slogan,’ and somebody keeps doing it and everybody else does it when they’ve been told not to, then boom, they should go.”
Fox News Digital caught up with former Bush administration ethics chief and Democratic Senate candidate Richard Painter in a phone call Friday after the White House continued to use the term “MAGA” after the Office of Special Counsel determined that its use violates the Hatch Act. (CQ Roll Call/Getty Images)
Painter said it would be inappropriate for the Trump or Biden White House to use the campaign slogan “MAGA” in an official capacity, and that a phrase like “build the wall” would be different because there is an actual policy initiative behind it.
Painter’s comments come as the White House continues to use the term “MAGA” after the OSC determined it was not kosher to do so in official communications.
“MAGA Republicans” have become a staple boogeyman of the Biden administration as it continues to navigate criticism over the porous southern border, an uncertain economic outlook and topless transgender activists on the White House lawn.
The term “MAGA” is synonymous with former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, primarily because it was his slogan.
“MAGA remains the campaign slogan of a current candidate for partisan political office, and its use therefore constitutes political activity,” the OSC wrote in a memo.
When asked about the ramifications of violating the Hatch Act, Painter said that with “serious” or “repeated” violations, a federal official could be “dismissed from federal service.” (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“Accordingly, federal employees should not use ‘MAGA’ or ‘Make America Great Again’ while on duty, in the workplace or when acting in their official capacity, including communicating via social media, email electronic or government websites,” he continued.
“We take the Hatch Act seriously and note that this exact phrase has been used countless times by Republicans in elected office to refer to official policy proposals, agendas and related values,” Bates told Fox News Digital in a statement. “We’ve always used it the same way. In fact, the Office of Special Counsel approved the term ‘MAGAnomics’ during the previous administration.”
Bates previously spoke out against the law as he targeted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for pronouncing the Republican presidential nominee’s name. “We follow the Hatch Act. So we don’t comment DEE-rectly on 2024,” the White House spokesman tweeted. “Am I right? Is it pronounced DEE-straight?”
Late Thursday, Bates released another memo using the term “MAGA” and targeting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and the Republican Study Committee, alleging that they are trying to “defund the Medicare benefits while pushing giant tax cuts for the rich.” .”
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Jean-Pierre said at the podium this week that they “didn’t know” that the term was not appropriate for official events.
Houston Keene is a political writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Houston.Keene@Fox.com and on Twitter: @HoustonKeene
