Receipts, not rants.

Tracking what they said then versus what they say now.

56 asymmetries tracked

Mark Foley

Behavioral
10/10
ThenApr 9, 2003

Foley led the House caucus on missing and exploited children and fought for harsher penalties for sexual predators targeting minors.

NowSep 29, 2006

Foley resigned after sexually explicit messages he sent to underage Congressional pages came to light.

Championed legislation to protect children from sexual predators while simultaneously engaging in sexually predatory behavior toward underage Congressional pages

Newt Gingrich

Behavioral
9/10
ThenDec 19, 1998

What is at stake is the rule of law... No man is above the law.

NowDec 19, 1998

Gingrich admitted he was having an extramarital affair with congressional staffer Callista Bisek during the same period he was leading Clinton's impeachment.

Led the impeachment of a president for lying about an extramarital affair while simultaneously conducting his own extramarital affair with a congressional staffer 23 years his junior

Mitch McConnell

Temporal
9/10
ThenNov 21, 2013

You'll regret this, and you may regret it a lot sooner than you think.

NowApr 6, 2017

We need to restore the norms and traditions of the Senate and get past this unprecedented partisan filibuster.

Warned Democrats they would regret changing filibuster rules, then expanded those same rule changes further when it was politically convenient for Republicans to confirm a Supreme Court justice

Lindsey Graham

Partisan
9/10
ThenMar 16, 2016

I want you to use my words against me. If there's a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said let's let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.

NowSep 26, 2020

I will support President Trump in any effort to move forward regarding the recent vacancy created by the passing of Justice Ginsburg.

Explicitly stated the rule should apply regardless of which party held the presidency, invited people to use his words against him, then did the opposite when a Republican president had the vacancy

Mitch McConnell

Partisan
9/10
ThenFeb 13, 2016

The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.

NowSep 18, 2020

President Trump's nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.

Established the precedent that Supreme Court vacancies should not be filled in an election year, then reversed the rule when it benefited his party, filling a vacancy much closer to an election than the one he blocked

Larry Craig

Behavioral
9/10
ThenSep 10, 1996

Craig voted for the Defense of Marriage Act and co-sponsored the Federal Marriage Amendment. He earned high ratings from the Family Research Council and American Family Association for his anti-gay voting record.

NowJun 11, 2007

Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after an undercover police officer accused him of soliciting sex in a men's restroom at Minneapolis airport.

Built an entire political career on opposing LGBTQ rights while privately engaging in the same behavior he legislated against, weaponizing anti-gay sentiment for political gain

Republican Party

Partisan
8/10
ThenJul 25, 2011

Republicans pushed the federal government to the brink of default and demanded spending cuts under President Obama, claiming the national debt was an existential threat.

NowDec 22, 2017

Republicans passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act projected to cost $1.9 trillion over ten years and also increased spending, despite the economy being at the peak of the business cycle.

The same party that nearly triggered a global financial crisis over deficit concerns under a Democratic president then added trillions to the deficit under a Republican president with no comparable urgency or concern

Mitt Romney

Temporal
8/10
ThenOct 25, 1994

I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country.

NowFeb 13, 2007

I am firmly pro-life.

Complete reversal on one of the most fundamental political positions, with the change conveniently aligning with the audience he needed to appeal to (Massachusetts voters vs. Republican primary voters)

Democratic Party

Partisan
8/10
ThenMay 18, 2005

Democrats used the filibuster to block 10 of Bush's judicial nominees and warned that eliminating the filibuster for judicial nominations would be a 'raw abuse of power'.

NowNov 21, 2013

Democrats invoked the nuclear option to eliminate the filibuster for executive and judicial nominations when Republicans used the same tactic against Obama's nominees.

Democrats passionately defended the judicial filibuster when they were using it to block Bush nominees, then eliminated it when Republicans used the same tool against Obama nominees

Bill Clinton

Behavioral
8/10
ThenJul 16, 1992

Clinton displayed his wife and daughter during his presidential campaign to project the image of a loyal, committed family man.

NowAug 17, 1998

Indeed I did have a relationship with Ms. Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong.

Cultivated a public image as a devoted family man for political benefit while conducting an extramarital affair in the White House, then lied about it publicly and under oath

Harry Reid

Temporal
8/10
ThenMay 23, 2005

The threat to change Senate rules is a raw abuse of power and will destroy the very checks and balances our Founding Fathers put in place.

NowNov 21, 2013

The American people believe Congress is broken. The American people believe the Senate is broken. And I believe the American people are right.

Passionately defended the filibuster for judicial nominees when it benefited Democrats, then eliminated it when Democrats controlled the Senate and Republicans were the ones filibustering

Scott Perry

Temporal
8/10
ThenJan 23, 2013

We're bankrupting America... We cannot continue to spend money we don't have.

NowMay 22, 2025

We helped secure changes to the Trump legislation that brought its cost down by more than $1 trillion.

Built his entire political identity around fiscal conservatism and deficit reduction, then voted for what his own Democratic colleagues called 'the single greatest increase to our national debt in American history'

Mitt Romney

Temporal
8/10
ThenApr 12, 2006

With regards to the mandate, the individual responsibility program... I proposed it. I'm proud of it.

NowMay 12, 2011

If I'm elected president, I will repeal Obamacare.

Romney championed the individual mandate at the state level, and the ACA was explicitly modeled on his Massachusetts law with help from his own advisers, yet he campaigned on repealing the federal version of his own policy

Gavin Newsom

Behavioral
8/10
ThenNov 2, 2020

Newsom issued strict COVID-19 guidelines banning indoor and outdoor gatherings of more than a dozen people and requiring masks at all times when near others outside the household.

NowNov 6, 2020

Newsom was photographed dining at the French Laundry restaurant at a lobbyist's birthday party with a dozen guests, closely packed and without masks, violating his own COVID protocols.

Imposed strict COVID rules on millions of Californians while personally violating those same rules at an elite dinner party, demonstrating a 'rules for thee, not for me' attitude

Marjorie Taylor Greene

Behavioral
8/10
ThenAug 24, 2022

For our government just to say, 'OK, well your debt is completely forgiven'... it's completely unfair.

NowApr 10, 2020

Greene's business, Taylor Commercial Inc., received a PPP loan of $182,300, which was later fully forgiven with interest totaling $183,504.

Criticized government loan forgiveness as unfair while having benefited from $183,504 in government loan forgiveness for her own business

Josh Hawley

Behavioral
8/10
ThenJan 6, 2021

Hawley raised his fist in solidarity with the crowd of Trump supporters gathering outside the Capitol.

NowJan 6, 2021

Hawley was seen running through a Senate hallway, briskly descending a staircase to flee the rioters he had encouraged.

Encouraged the crowd with a solidarity fist pump, then fled when they acted on the energy he helped create, and later monetized the fist-pump image while condemning the violence

Donald Trump

Temporal
8/10
ThenMay 25, 2016

I'm not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican, and I'm not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid.

NowMay 4, 2017

This is a great plan. I actually think it will get even better.

Made an explicit, repeated campaign promise not to cut Medicaid, then supported legislation that would have cut it by $880 billion

Ted Cruz

Behavioral
8/10
ThenJan 4, 2013

Hurricane Sandy funding bill is filled with unrelated pork. Two-thirds of that bill had nothing to do with Sandy.

NowAug 28, 2017

Texas has been hit by a devastating natural disaster, and the state needs the federal government's help.

Voted against federal disaster relief for other states citing fiscal concerns, then sought the same type of relief when his own state was affected. Fact-checkers debunked his claim that two-thirds of the Sandy bill was pork

Robert Bentley

Behavioral
8/10
ThenJun 1, 2010

Bentley campaigned as a 'family values' candidate and Sunday school teacher, emphasizing his devout Baptist faith and family-centered lifestyle.

NowMar 22, 2016

Bentley was accused of committing adultery with his top political adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason, with recorded audio of intimate conversations released publicly.

Campaigned explicitly on Christian family values and moral leadership while conducting an extramarital affair with a political adviser and allegedly using state resources to conceal it

Showing 20 of 56 asymmetries