Election conspiracies and sanitizing Proud Boys — this Fresno politician had quite a day
Give Steve Brandau an attaboy. The Fresno County supervisor for District 2, spanning most of north Fresno and a sliver of Clovis, had himself quite a day.
During Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Brandau continued to sow doubts in the integrity of our local elections — without a shred of evidence any votes had been tampered with or miscounted.
Hours later, during his regular stint co-hosting GV Wire Unfiltered, a weekly show on the online site, Brandau went to extended lengths to normalize the Proud Boys while admitting a sense of kinship with Fresno chapter president Mark Mazzola, who appeared as a guest.
Propagate unfounded election conspiracies in the morning, minimize the actions of a hate group in the evening. All in a day’s work for the Fresno County supervisor.
Brandau’s donation check from the latest Republican Super PAC, or whomever is fronting Rep. Devin Nunes’ frivolous lawsuits division, is surely in the mail.
It’s funny. When President Trump won by a close margin in 2016 over Hillary Clinton, or when Brandau himself successfully ran for the Board of Supervisors following two terms on the Fresno City Council, Brandau never made a peep hinting our elections weren’t on the up and up.
But when his guy (Trump) loses, then we need reassurance the votes weren’t suspect. Got it.
Brandau doesn’t come right out and say this, certainly. He is careful to couch his assertions with the very Trumpian “some people” or “most people” in order to maintain distance. Still, the intent is clear.
Up for discussion was whether Fresno County should hire an outside firm to vet ballots door to door. The price tag would be between $2 million to $4 million as estimated by James Kus, the county’s recently appointed registrar of voters.
Never mind, as Kus patiently detailed, the complete and total lack of proof the county’s ballots have been mistabulated or its voting machines hacked.
Wanting to flush millions in federal stimulus dollars down the drain to address a problem that doesn’t exist is a pretty interesting position from a so-called fiscal conservative. But who cares about that when there’s a partisan narrative to help nudge along?
“I think we’re losing a lot of confidence from the public,” Brandau said from the dais. “Now, some of it is unjustified, but the only way you can repair that is to go to an extent that most would deem a valuable effort.”
Huh?
Yes, I’m aware a few public commenters in recent months have expressed concerns to the supervisors over elections. That’s their right as citizens. But if Brandau were any kind of a leader, he’d work to educate and reassure those folks. Rather than placate their conspiracy-addled minds with thinly veiled allusions to falsehoods even the right-wing cable news networks have stopped pushing.
Unless Brandau also believes deep down the 2020 election was rigged. It wouldn’t surprise me.
Supervisor sanitizes right-wing hate group
All that, it turned out, was just an hors d’oeuvre in Tuesday’s meal of exasperating antics by the Fresno County supervisor. Brandau saved the main course for his live podcast appearance.
This isn’t going to be a debate over whether the Proud Boys are a right-wing hate group. They are clearly one, a toxic blend of racism, misogyny and religious intolerance (especially against Muslims) guised as a male fraternity that supports “Western culture” and “traditional values.”
Mazzola, the Fresno chapter president, used the platform to describe the Proud Boys as something closer to the Kiwanis Club than a hate group. (Remind me the last time Kiwanis members helped plot an insurrection attempt, or turned out en masse to a peaceful protest decked in colors and riot gear.)
While podcast moderator Bill McEwen pushed back against Mazzola’s assertions and claims, Brandau lapped them up. Frankly, it was gross.
“The biggest complaint I hear about (Proud Boys) is that they’re racist, and I’m not hearing that stick at all today,” Brandau said at one point.
At another, Brandau told Mazzola: “I think the people who are going to brand you as racist will continue to do that and sleep like babies through the night because that’s what they perceive.”
Or my personal favorite: “Once someone wants to brand you as racist, it’s very difficult to talk yourself out of that.”
Expressing kinship with Proud Boys leader
Indeed it is, Steve. Particularly when an individual parrots Trump by calling COVID-19 the “Chinese coronavirus,” as Brandau did in March 2020. Or when that same individual compares gas tax money to reparations for slavery, as Brandau did in April 2019, without apology. Or when he retweets racist posts on Twitter, which Brandau was known for until shutting down his account.
The Proud Boys’ unwanted presence at protests over the proposed Tower Theatre sale has only heightened an already tense situation. Fresno Mayor and ex-Police Chief Jerry Dyer called the group “outside agitators” and said city leaders won’t tolerate their intimidation tactics.
Leave it to Brandau to undermine that message by expressing kinship with Mazzola, comparing the Proud Boys to the Tea Party movement of which he used to be a part. Until, of course, he was ultimately revealed as just another Republican.
“Am I here to defend the Proud Boys? No. That’s not my goal in life,” Brandau said toward the end of the hour-long program.
Perhaps not, but in this instance Brandau certainly made it his mission. Quite a day for the Fresno County supervisor. He should be so very proud.
This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
