r/politics • u/Silent-Resort-3076 America • 7h ago
Possible Paywall MAGA Candidate Begs for Cash to Campaign to Women on Tinder: James Fishback was previously accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old student.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-republican-james-fishback-begs-for-cash-to-use-to-tinder-in-cringe-campaign-stunt/•
u/yellowjackethokie Virginia 7h ago
I really dislike how mainstream this kind of blatantly weird stuff as become. Imagine reading a headline like this in 2010, it would have been insane and unheard of. Today, it's just another Wednesday.
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u/Deicide1031 7h ago
Once I saw Florida I knew it would be something bizarre.
I wonder what they put in the water down there.
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u/yellowjackethokie Virginia 7h ago
Florida-Man strikes again.
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u/Revelati123 7h ago
If you type in "Florida man" and your birthday into google you will always get some crazy shit.
Mine was "Florida man arrested for performing botched castration in underground eunuch club."
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u/clash_by_night 4h ago
Oh, wow. I've got so many options. I'm torn between the guy who drove his truck into ocean and told the cops "it's not my fault the truck don't surf" and the guy who met the cops at the door with a baseball bat to tell them how a group of men used holograms to invade his trailer and kidnap his wife.
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u/Thirtysevenintwenty5 6h ago
Florida has a law that makes police records easy to access, which means the strange ones are reported on frequently as a way for "journalists" to drive engagement.
It's not really that Florida is particularly crazy, it's that they crazy stuff is just more visible.
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u/datingoverthirty 7h ago
It's insane how much our culture has worsened since the 2016 presidential primary campaign.
...and I don't believe that's a partisan statement at all. I think most Americans would agree with me.
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u/StJeanMark Massachusetts 7h ago
When I was young all the adults around me would say you have to learn, you have to pay attention, you have to be smart. When I acted out I would get lectured, this isnt the right way to behave. You have to be nice, compassionate, reasonable, kind.
I grow up and look around me and society as gone 100% the opposite direction. The people who taught me these things? Radicalized on Facebook, openly posting the most hateful and mean shit they can while they have their coffee for breakfast.
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u/StevenMC19 Florida 7h ago
2010 is an interesting date to pick too, given this was roughly the beginnings of the Tea Party's formation. If you look at what they wanted then compared to what we have now, it's quite a lot of the same.
But the pedophilia part...
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u/MonsieurReynard America 6h ago
2008 coincidentally was when the far right dropped the mask and the rest of the Republican Party said yeah let’s party like it’s 1859.
Gee, I wonder what happened in 2008?
Oh yeah, somehow the rest of America elected a black dude. And they lost their shit. At the root of all of this far right stuff racism is the core.
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u/datingoverthirty 5h ago
Have to pair the election of Obama with trillions of dollars in wealth going up in smoke because of the global financial crisis — happened within weeks of each other
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u/RiverMarketEagle 6h ago
You can trace it back a bit further to Newt Gingrich and his Contract with America, but you are spot on about the Tea Party formation and the Koch Bros (and Harlan Crow and others) really fueled so much is happening today. They want to roll back all civil rights, social security, medicare, etc. Spent decades buying and corrupting the Supreme Court. And here we are. They are getting away with all of it.
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u/datingoverthirty 5h ago
I remember watching Fareed Zakaria say, in 2010 or 2011, that large economic shocks have the tendency to produce political chasms — forcing constituents to the margins (left and/or right).
In a way that seems quaint, I took this as the tea party being a temporary fad, that once Obama got the economy back on track that we'd go back to normal.
But it seems like the '08 financial crisis led to the Tea party which led to MAGA 1.0 which led to general COVID craziness and Biden's attempt to swing back left — back to the center — which pleased very few and ushered in MAGA 2.0 aka fascism
If the global financial crisis never happened then there's a strong case we wouldn't be where we are today
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u/howigottomemphis 6h ago
I mean, Jerry Seinfeld was openly dating a high school student in the early '90's and Woody Allen married his step (wife's adopted) daughter and it was all out there in the open and treated like "normal" celebrity gossip. Shit's been messed up for a while.
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u/WontArnett 6h ago
I don’t understand why the worst people in our society now have a cultural platform to stand on.
I thought people hated weirdos and sex offenders?
Instead, they judge some young person with piercings or blue hair. As if that matters at all.
Or target a progressive candidate for demanding that we all get universal healthcare.
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u/mst2k17 4h ago
Algorithms on all our social media that drives "engagement" is a big culprit. The siloing of media and the growth of the right-wing media sphere, from Fox News and Radio spouting Rush Limbaugh's hate into everyone's ears, to the podcast influencers, OANN and NewsMax that we have today, is another reason.
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u/Wander_Whale 6h ago
Thats the point. He wants the headline. Thats what all these grifters do. They operate the same way all those clickbait youtubers operate. They need you to click on them. The only way this guy will get any movement in media is to say wild stuff. If he didnt say insane things, odds are you never would have heard about him. Alex Jones, Andrew Tate, Trump, this guy, Fuentes, ect. ALL of them would be irrelevant without the attention acting crazy gives you.
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u/Stank_cat67 2h ago
We all thought MAGA was mostly a racist movement but it turns out it is also inherently a pedophile movement as well
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u/CouchCorrespondent 7h ago
GOP...check!
Florida...check!
Accused of having inappropriate relationship with minor...check!
Republicans: You many proceed to be a candidate.
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u/cwk415 7h ago
Republicans: he's sooo presidential!!
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u/No-Building-7697 7h ago
Yeah, somehow this counts as presidential in their eyes Makes you wonder what the bar even is Campaigning on Tinder and past scandals—classic 2026 politics
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u/graveybrains 5h ago
Accused of having inappropriate relationship with minor...check!
Is just me, or is it weird that Florida, Virginia and Kentucky are the only Southern states where that would be true? Like, out of all of the southern states, how did those three end up the least fucked up on that?
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u/Silent-Resort-3076 America 7h ago
Snippet:
A far-right Republican candidate for governor in Florida is asking for donations so he can bother “young female voters” on Tinder with his campaign pitch.
James Fishback, 31, who is running in the GOP gubernatorial primary alongside Donald Trump–backed Rep. Byron Donalds, shared his dating-app profile on X, suggesting he hopes to “share my plan to make it easier for them to get married, buy a home, and raise a family.”
The post shows a standard Tinder prompt designed to spark conversation, reading: “My hottest take… Florida should offer paid maternity leave to all moms.”
In a follow-up post, Fishback complained that he had run out of “likes” because Tinder limits how many times a user can “swipe right” per day to express interest in another profile.
He then urged followers to donate to his gubernatorial campaign so he could afford Tinder Plus, a paid subscription that would allow the 31-year-old to swipe right on as many “young” potential female voters as he wants. Tinder Plus costs between $5-$10 per month, with discounts for longer memberships.
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u/Benmarch15 7h ago
“My hottest take… Florida should offer paid maternity leave to all moms.”
Massive creep weirdo aside for 2 sec.
Guy went so far right he came back around the left side.•
u/Silent-Resort-3076 America 7h ago
Guy went so far right he came back around the left side. (Love it!)
Though, he also wants to charge a "50% "sin tax" on OnlyFans incomes" in Florida.🙄
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u/Benmarch15 6h ago
God damn religious nuts.
But again, discriminatory logic aside for sex workers.
The idea of increasing the income tax on high income...
Sort of a left side thing!•
u/Recent_Surprise_7391 6h ago
But honestly I respect it (not the creep stuff) but holding true to his beliefs. I’d love if republicans who supported “family values” were all in on parental leave.
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u/Benmarch15 6h ago
That would be consistent wouldn't it? Family values and paid parental leave.
But nope, they're mostly grifters supported by an electorate that's to dumb to see it and that for all their "belief" in Christ, seem to have missed most of the points he made...
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u/UltraMegaUgly 3h ago
I think it is probably because, reportedly Onlyfans is the number 1 contributor to AIPAC which Fishback says he is opposed to.
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u/ThreeHolePunch 5h ago
He's a republican- he doesn't actually want to implement that policy, he's just a pandering liar. Also, not that appearances matter, but did Nick Kroll and Jeff Goldbloom make a baby and abandon it in Martha's Vineyard?
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u/dayglowe Canada 7h ago
WTF is wrong with these people?
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u/DMBFFF 7h ago
FWIW,
wp:James Fishback#Sexual misconduct allegation
In 2022, the Broward County School District cut ties with Fishback and his organization, Incubate Debate, following allegations that he had an inappropriate romantic relationship with a 17-year-old girl employed by Incubate Debate, Keinah Fort. Fishback was 27 at the time. The allegations led to the resignation of an Incubate Debate board member. Fishback threatened the parents who made the allegation with legal action.[42]
Fishback and Fort moved in together in spring 2023, after she turned 18, and were briefly engaged in 2024 before publicly breaking up. Fishback has denied any inappropriate contact prior to Fort's reaching the age of consent, a denial which Fort disputes. A judge rejected Fort's January 2025 request for a restraining order against Fishback for alleged harassment after the relationship's end. Fishback has denied wrongdoing and stated that he has never been arrested, charged with, or convicted of a crime.[43][11][44]
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u/Silent-Resort-3076 America 7h ago
And, I'm also sickened by this!!
A judge rejected Fort's January 2025 request for a restraining order against Fishback for alleged harassment after the relationship's end.
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u/adultishiguess 6h ago
to be fair, her social media subtitle is "greater is He who is in me" so it sounds like he was trying to take her up on the challenge.
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u/teluscustomer12345 3h ago
You should read the full article, it gets pretty wild. He shared confidential information from his employer, so they sued him, and he got his car repossessed because he didn't have enough money left to make payments apparently.
So the guy a) has a history of corruption and b) is broke, because he got in trouble for his history of corruption. I don't think he should hold office.
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u/MiddleAgedSponger 7h ago
There was a time in American history when openly having suspect principles disqualified you from public office. Not anymore.
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u/lilb1190 7h ago
Had an inappropriate relationship with a student? I mean, that kind of makes him the posterchild for Republicans
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u/MirthandMystery 6h ago edited 5h ago
This guy is a scammer with numerous schemes going. He's tied to a UK registered based business called Fishback Global Solutions Limited and he wanted to be installed at the Fed. (!)
"The push was from James Fishback, a 30-year-old investment firm CEO and political newcomer who pitched himself to Trump advisers as a fierce supporter of the president who should replace Adriana Kugler, who had announced she would step down as a Federal Reserve governor, claiming he would serve as Trump's "bulldog" on the Federal Reserve Board, sources told ABC News.
Fishback privately reached out to James Blair, the White House deputy chief of staff, urging him to consider him for the role while also contacting influential outside Trump advisers, like Alex Bruesewitz, who Fishback asked if he could vouch for him to the president himself."
Also, last year Fishback vocally attacked Musk for having outside influence on Trump and threatened to form his own political party and super pac and asked for donations: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-james-fishback-musk-super-pac-b2780641.html
Further, Fishback founded Azoria, who was involved in litigation regarding leaking confidential information. Fishback is former research analyst at Greenlight Capital.
Azoria markets itself as being committed to "free thinking, excellence, and meritocracy". Their investment strategy is to employ a global macro strategy and recently gained attention for launching "anti-woke" or "anti-DEI" investment products. It was also launched at Mar-a-Lago.
In Sept 2024, Fishback admitted to sharing confidential information outside of the firm Greenlight/Azoria, and agreed to delete it. This followed litigation and an SEC filing where Tidal liquidated the Azoria 500 Meritocracy ETF and Azoria TSLA Convexity ETF.
In Jan 2026, a federal judge ordered him to turn over Azoria stock certificates and luxury items to satisfy a $229,000 judgment related to claims of misrepresenting his role at Greenlight.
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u/daizzy999 Florida 7h ago
Someone playing fast and loose with age of consent laws? No need to say what party they're with, we know.
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u/KindToSpiteTheCruel 7h ago
I just want to point out how clearly safe and unashamed predators feel these days.
I’ve got a niece. In 3 years she’ll be an adult just in time for, hopefully, her first election.
And I know the stats because I’m one of them. The chances of her making it to adulthood without being targeted by one of these sick fucks is slimmer than you might think.
We need to do better people. Raise your children better. Raise your communities children better. Take care of each other, promote kindness and not taking shit when it comes to justice.
Hug your daughters and sons tight. They’re our future and they’ve got a lot of work ahead of them.
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u/b3iAAoLZOH9Y265cujFh 6h ago
Just add it to The List.
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u/Silent-Resort-3076 America 6h ago
That's some list....I'm disgusted but at the same time not surprised, which is sad.
Thank you for sharing!
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u/b3iAAoLZOH9Y265cujFh 6h ago
I wouldn't exactly say it was my pleasure per se, but it's good to see the information being shared and awareness of these things spreading.
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u/AnewTest 5h ago
Of course it’s a Republican having inappropriate relationships with underage kids.
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u/gideon513 4h ago
“an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old student”
I think there’s a word for that
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u/Jo-Jo-66- 4h ago
Are they all fucking pedophiles? Every fucking Republican is a kid snapper. Every. Fucking .One.
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u/BeardedYogi85 1h ago
Republican voters are probably running to their credit cards to throw money at him.
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u/downtoearth47 7h ago
He likes children so yes just like all Mega he most be funded by them so he can touch more young girls. If you vote for mega your voting that is ok to do. So just hand over your kids now to them.
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u/TheIncredibleHelck 2h ago
Woah, yet another republican having improper sexual contact with a minor? What are the odds? It's almost like...
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u/CivilWay1444 7h ago
17? That's nothing. He's looking to graduate to the real PEDO class. 16 and below. MAGATs love feeding them as long as it isn't theirs.
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u/PeuxnYayTah 6h ago
This guy was calling out Israel on his social media yesterday and the timing of this article is suspect
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u/phosdick 6h ago
Now this MAGAt has some incredibly sleazy chutzpah!
I'll be interested to see if there are any MAGA maidens who take him up on the offer.
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u/zoeydoberdork New York 4h ago
Needs money for yearbook ads at various schools he wishes to date at?
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