By the way he has behaved over the past few weeks, the casual observer would think that Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry was a dyed-in-the-wool, MAGA hat wearing Trump supporter. In a tweet just this weekend he said he was “pinching himself” that he saw President Trump at the Daytona 500. The Mayor even dawned a sheepish grin and posed in a picture with our President.
While at home, Mayor Curry is engulfed in a scandal of his own making – his administration’s botched attempt to sell JEA and the (justified) public outcry has reached a tipping point. His handpicked JEA CEO was fired in disgrace, the entire JEA Board quit before the end of their terms, an uncovered JEA performance plan could have cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, Curry’s own political consultant has admitted to providing advice on the attempted sale, a special city council investigatory committee is looking the scandal, and there is a looming Federal investigation into this whole mess. Who wouldn’t want to run away to Daytona too?
It appears our Mayor is looking for significance again amid the scandals. A simple examination of his twitter account tells the story. Since the President’s inauguration three years ago, Curry has only tweeted about President Trump TWO times – until last week. Since last weekend, he’s posted about Trump a half a dozen times. In addition, Curry attended two separate press conferences at the local GOP headquarters last week – the first time he has darkened the door of a local Republican office in years. His distaste for the local party was felt and known by many and the party struggled for help from our own Republican Mayor.
What explains his sudden interest in President Trump or the Republican Party?
His new found Republicanism is nothing but a fake, cold, and calculated attempt to find new friends and attach himself onto the President’s coattails.
Conservatives should see him for what he is: A desperate politician looking for relevance while his administration is under assault. It’s sad to watch and its sadder still for the city.
