Guest Column: Former SDGOP Exec Dir Reggie Rhoden notes “CFL is a RINO organization, nothing more.”
(Editor’s note, I was asked by the author to share his post from facebook, which I’m running as a column, due to it’s length, which will not post in it’s completeness if I embed it. You can find the original and the videos that go with it here. -pp)
CFL is a RINO organization, nothing more.
by Former SDGOP Executive Director, Reggie Rhoden
I’m no fan of negative politics.
I would much rather spend my time talking about the future than the past. But if we are going to be serious about the future of the Republican Party in this state, then we have to be honest about the people and groups who wear the Republican label while giving political cover to Democrats.
At some point we have to start weeding out the RINOs.
So by popular demand, I present 43 very uninspiring minutes of Citizens for Liberty hosting pro-choice Democrat Jamie Smith inside Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Rapid City.
CFL does not give public endorsements. But what they gave the Democrat nominee was far more useful in South Dakota politics: a room, a microphone, a conservative audience, and the opportunity to present himself as acceptable to Republican voters during a governor’s race. They gave him support.
I was Kristi Noem’s West River Director in 2022. I knew who supported us, and I knew who worked against us. I gave CFL grace for their mistake, even after they berated me over the phone about how horrible they thought Noem and Rhoden were. But now they want to turn around and claim they never supported Jamie Smith at all and act as if this never happened.
Problem is, they didn’t know I recorded the whole thing. 😎
Jamie Smith opened with this:
“Thank you, first of all, for having me and for the organizers. I know that there was some controversy on whether people wanted me to come talk to you tonight. I want to say thank you for allowing me the opportunity…”
That alone establishes the entire fact pattern. He thanked the organizers. He acknowledged there was controversy over whether he should be allowed to speak. He thanked them for the opportunity anyway.
That is not rumor. That is not speculation. That is Jamie Smith, the 2022 Democrat nominee for Governor, in a Catholic church, acknowledging that Citizens for Liberty gave him an opportunity during the 2022 governor’s race even after Republicans and local church-goers objected to him being there.
He then named people in the room:
“Julie, Taffy, Phil, who else? Or is there anybody else? I think you all should give them a round of applause because it’s not easy to do what they do. And you have some of the hardest working legislators in the legislature right here in your group.”
Taffy Howard was named by Jamie Smith. Phil Jensen was named by Jamie Smith. Julie Frye Mueller was named by Jamie Smith.
This is not rumor. This is not speculation. This is the transcript.
And Jamie Smith did not merely say Taffy’s name in passing. He went on to reference shared political history with the freshmen legislators in the room:
“It was kinda crazy, so now I’m elected to be in the House of Representatives. And I still don’t know exactly what I’m gonna do. I was with these freshmen right over here together (looking at Taffy and Phil). We drank from the fire hose together. Do you remember those first weeks? Oh my goodness, what have we done? Okay? But it happened. And you know what? We learned a lot that first year.”
What HAVE they done? Jamie Smith was not talking to strangers when he said this. He recognized Taffy Howard. He named Taffy Howard. He praised the legislators present. He referenced “drinking from the fire hose” with CFL members in the room.
That is familiarity. That is shared political history. That is one of many reasons their denial does not hold up.
Jamie Smith then described working with different parts of the Republican Party: “We’ve been successful working together, sometimes with the multiple different parts of the Republican Party, I’ll just say. There’s different branches, and sometimes I’m with the more conservative part…”
That quote matters. A Democrat candidate for Governor stood before Citizens for Liberty and publicly described his ability to work with parts of the Republican Party, including “the more conservative part.”
Then he said: “People from all walks of life, from all politicals of party, from liberal to conservative, all around the state have thanked me. Thank you for running. Because they understand like you do, that this system doesn’t work unless we have people in the system working together.”
And then: “I want to next tell you a little bit about some things that I think we’re going to agree on.”
Jamie Smith was standing in front of a “conservative” audience telling them where he thought they agreed and even confirmed shared beliefs from prior conversations with members of the group.
That is exactly the kind of support a Democrat candidate needs in South Dakota. Not an endorsement. Not a scuffed scorecard. A platform to win over conservatives. CFL provided exactly that.
Near the end of his remarks, Jamie Smith said exactly what the event gave him: “I thank you for this opportunity to let you know who I am a little bit more and I appreciate being here with you today.”
There is that word again: opportunity. Not ambush. Not confrontation. Not accountability. Opportunity. That is what Jamie Smith called it. Why present opportunities to your opposition unless they’re not your opposition?
And if anyone wants to pretend the room was hostile to Jamie Smith, the transcript says otherwise.
Phil Jensen is quoted saying: “Thank you for being an honest Democrat. The reason I tell you that is obviously is cause we have so many Republicans because that’s the only way to get elected — cause in their hearts they’re Democrats and you aren’t one so I applaud you for that.”
That happened in the room. A Democrat candidate was thanked for being an “honest Democrat” while Republicans were accused of being Democrats in disguise by the same man who was in the process of thanking the Democrat whose event he was attending.
That is not Republican accountability, it’s hypocrisy and political cover for the Democrat nominee.
The transcript also identifies Tanchi Weaver by name asking Jamie Smith a softball question about what he would do as governor:
“Tanchi Weaver: Okay, my question seems that every time there’s a new government, governor, there is also an executive order that realigns the state government. Have you given any thought to how you would realign our state?”
Jamie Smith responded: “That’s a great question, and that’s from somebody that’s been in this game a lot longer than I have.”
That matters. Jamie Smith recognized Weaver as someone who had “been in this game” longer than he had. So we can stop pretending the people in that room were random, uninvolved bystanders. The transcript shows otherwise. I mention Tanchi because how distracting it was seeing her head nod in agreement with everything Smith said for 40+ minutes.
And yes, I was there. I recorded it. At one point, Mike Mueller interrupted my recording to ask me not to film anyone in the crowd. For the record, I was polite and did my best to respect that request, which is why I kept my shot zoomed in.
But that raises an obvious question: if Citizens for Liberty is for transparency, accountability, the First Amendment, and Republicans, why would they ask me not to film at their Jamie Smith event?
That detail matters now only because some of the people mentioned above are trying to rewrite what happened. Everything this video proves has already been denied multiple times by the people mentioned in it.
Now the record is clear. Those are the plain facts from the transcript.
So the conclusion is simple: Jamie Smith received support from Citizens for Liberty in 2022.
Not because they issued a formal endorsement. Because they gave him a platform. They gave him a room. They gave him a microphone. They gave him the eyes and ears of conservative voters. They asked me not to record. They gave him the chance to present a watered-down version of himself that was more acceptable to Republicans. They gave him the chance to expose their shared experiences in the legislature. They pitched softballs and never asked him one single question on abortion. They never invited the Republican nominee even after I personally offered. They berated me over the phone about how horrible Noem was with the Muellers coaching in the background. Then after all that support they “didn’t” give, the Democrat turned around and thanked them for the opportunity.
Mr. Chairman, that sounds like the definition of political support to me.
So now, when Taffy Howard, or Tanchi Weaver claims this is “lies,” “false accusations,” and “unhinged,” they are not refuting me in the slightest.
They are contradicting the transcript. (lying)
In 2022, while Republicans were working to defeat Jamie Smith, Citizens for Liberty gave him political support.
That is the record. That is the truth. CFL is a RINO organization, nothing more.
You can watch his videos here:
https://www.facebook.com/656872962/videos/pcb.10162939392122963/27063066496635951
https://www.facebook.com/656872962/videos/pcb.10162939392122963/1345248397600530
This is worth paying attention to. Housing regulators are quietly overhauling the credit scoring models behind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the stakes are high. The Government-Sponsored Enterprises backstop more than half of America’s $15 trillion mortgage market, and any erosion in loan quality ultimately falls on taxpayers.
“Look I grew up in a house with three brothers that played football. I’m used to getting piled up on…but if you ask my brothers I know how to hold my own. Boys will be boys.”