Gregory Thayer: Joe Benning is better choice than far leftist David Zuckerman

This letter is by Gregory Thayer, of Rutland. He was a candidate for lieutenant governor in the 2022 Republican primary election.

I lost the bid for the nomination as Lt. Governor in the Republican primary on August 8, 2022. And while of course I would have preferred to win the nomination, there is a Republican candidate.

I appreciate all the support I received from my followers during the primary campaign, and I was very moved by the enormous outpouring of kindness from people that was shared with me and my partner Tammy from across our great state.

And now hearing from many of you that they are planning to write me in as Lt. Governor candidate on the general election ballot on November 8 is very humbling. I will not denounce your constitutional right to do that or your protected free speech.

That said, here is my take. Everyone knows that I disagree with Sen. Benning on some issues. He is better than (far) leftist David Zuckerman who is working to take away all of your rights and make you a legal pawn to the government.

The write-in website in my name was established by a dedicated group of Vermont patriots who strongly support me, and I appreciate their efforts. However, I did not set up this campaign, the site, nor did I have anything to do with it.

Now it is time for true Vermonters to come together as “We the People” and vote for Republican candidates. If we fail to do this out of resentment, we can be sure that the leftist candidates on the November ballot will take Montpelier by storm and make our Green Mountain State a bastion of Marxism.

These people talk a good game, but all they really care about are their utopian pipe dreams that will bankrupt you and me. “You will own nothing and be happy” is the mantra of the Vermont Democrats just as much as the World Economic Forum’s.

If you love traditional American values and care about the health and well-being of your family, you must vote Republican in November.

Gregory M. Thayer
Rutland, VT

Image courtesy of David Zuckerman for Vermont/Joe Benning

31 thoughts on “Gregory Thayer: Joe Benning is better choice than far leftist David Zuckerman

  1. I did not endorse Joe Benning.

    I submitted an OPED piece to True North Reports (on 11/3/2022) editor published my writing, my words. Here on VDC, Mr. Page wrote an article. I did not talk to any reporter directly.

    My piece is about thanking you, the People, “We The People!” for your support and wanting to write my name in on election day. Further, I said I will not denounce your Constitutional Right to do that, it’s your Free Speech right to do this. It’s your vote, not the governments.

    Further, I did not ask for this write-in or the website, I tried to defuse it. I did not promote it nor ask people to write me in.

    I want people to vote. I want conservative Republicans to win! I am working hard for candidates around Vermont and especially here in Rutland county. I have worked hard to Defeat Prop 5 / Article 22 and I spent my own money and resources.

    I have endorsed Gerald MALLOY for U.S. Senate and three Constitutional offices here in Vermont; Michael Tagliavia for Attorney General; H.Brooke Page for Secretary of State; and Richard Morton for State Auditor. That’s it. Period!

    Thank you all, God bless you. Vote and get your family, friends, & co-workers to vote for Conservative candidates.

    Gregory Thayer, MBA

  2. How many decades, and make no mistake we are talking about decades…

    Are we going to keep this losing strategy where we adopt UNIPARTY candidates in the name of electing “moderate electable republicans” AND StILL LOSE !

    not only that

    We keep building a stronger crappier party, filled with globalists and corporatists. Maybe this year when everybody across the nation gets it and VERMONT leadership continues down the same old losing path somebody will get it.

    They are lieing to you once again, don’t feed the Iniparty. Maybe we’ll run two more Liam and Bennings next year, we are sure to win then!

  3. One of the big issues before Vermont and the VTGOP in particular is the difference between

    Winning and Building

    How many republicans would take the bet the Benning is going to win? Would you put $100? $5,000?

    Would you put down $100 that Zuckerman will win?

    We fool ourselves into thinking yet again another “moderate” candidate will win. I’ll take $100 bet with anyone that Benning won’t. This is not to say he might be better than Zuckerman.

    What this does however, is build team rino every year instead of showing support for someone who might be more in line with American values, vs. Globalism. When others can see support for these ideas the VTGOP would get stronger, better candidates, better solutions. We’d be building a team that COULD win years down the road.

    Yet again we are looking for a short term gain, rather than building a team. Better to build a team and lose than to lose and have a team playing for globalists….don’t feed the rinos, they only get stronger.

  4. VTGOP RINOs strike again.

    They are attempting to force Benning on conservative voters by compelling this public statement from Thayer.

    Except it does not improve Benning’s chances, nor diminish Zuckerman’s, nor accomplish anything other than degrading Thayer. Which was probably the intended result.

    Article says “true Vermonters” should “come together” and “vote Republican.” But VTGOP formally abandoned the GOP platform last March. And Joe Benning certainly isn’t a Republican. Rubber stamping the letter “R” next to his name doesn’t make him one. Besides supporting Article 22, Benning is a treacherous liar who supports election fraud, overthrow of President Trump, and the grotesque persecution of J6 political prisoners. He attacks patriotic Republican constituents defending their stolen votes as “insurrectionists” while supporting the actual insurrectionists who stole the election. Joe Benning is a stain on the Republican Party and a stain on Vermont.

    So while it’s disappointing that Thayer appears to have been pressured into issuing a statement with these RINO talking points about “coming together” (after they put their thumb on the scale for Benning during the primary and treated Thayer like dog sh*t they scraped off the bottom of their shoes, same as they did with Nolan and Malloy), “true Vermonters” will still be writing him in because there is simply no other principled choice for America first, pro-Constitution, pro-life Conservative voters.

    Joe Benning is not an option.

    • If Mr. Thayer can be “pressured into issuing a statement”, what else can he be pressured into doing? How do we know you haven’t been pressured into making your statement?

      When are people going to begin accepting personal responsibility for what they’ve done, instead of reflexively deflecting attention away from their own indiscretions?

      “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster… for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” ― Friedrich W. Nietzsche

      • Actually I think when you “gazed long into the abyss” of Benning’s soulless countenance over that cup of coffee “the abyss” must have “gazed also into you” because you have been supporting his unconscionable lies ever since.

        • Just reread the headline of this article to see who it is now supporting Benning, Mr. Vermont Citizen – whoever you are, hiding there behind your pseudonym.

      • You know to keep the peace Greg did what he thought was best..

        However if you follow Benning the is no question what he wi lldo to retain power…

        He will advocate for the slaughter of The unborn…
        He will support the mutilation of our children…
        He will help destroy the family unit…
        He will deny voter fraud…
        He will support Joe Biden’s agenda..

        He will continue to call conservative republicans white supremacists and insurrectionists and racists…

        He will help support the rhetoric that patriots are domestic terrorists…

        Like I said he is the Liz Cheney of Vermont….

        And like Liz Cheney it is time to remove him from any political office in the republican party…

        It is a farce that the sellout Joe Benning even dared call himself a republican..

        If you were worried about conservative candidates I don’t know how confused you are to consider Benning for any political office in the republican party when Phil Scott and Joe Benning voted for Biden and the destruction of America..

        Benning should not be considered for any office in Vermont government..

        We are overloaded with people selling out Vermonters now.

        Kay, if you were a conservative with any conservative values there is no w ay you could even begin to consider Benning for an office that you were worried would not bé filled by someone with conservative values…

        Just start with BENNING voting for Prop 5 twice and will now vote for Article 22 to be placed into the Vermont constitution.

        And it goes downhill from there.

        As a lifelong Vermonter there is no way I could support JERSEY Joe or anyone else that would sellout the state of Vermont…

        Don’t attempt to fault Gregory for trying to do the right thing.

        Hey if Benning could vote for Biden and vote in favor of the destruction that Article 22 will do to my beautiful state…what else is he willing to do?

        Choose wisely…

        One of the things that I do not agree with Greg Thayer about is that Dave Zuckerman is a worse choice than Joe Benning..

        Benning is as dishonest as the day is long…

        Are really supporting the guy that doesn’t have a problem adding to the rhetoric that conservative republicans are DOMESTIC TERRORISTS..

        • Again, Mr. Ley, your continued deflections aside… I’m the guy who said he would fall on his sword of principle to support Greg Thayer – before Thayer decided to support Joe Benning… and then I apologized to everyone for my questionable judgment. I’m trying not to make the same mistake again.

          My disappointment with the continued dishonesty expressed by some on this forum, especially with regard to the remarks of the so-called conservative VT Citizen’s recent duplicities (see above), cannot be exaggerated. At least we’re learning who we shouldn’t support.

          “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

          • Apologies for not having seen your “sword of principle” comment.

            When I said “the abyss gazed back” I was referring to the fact that you came away from your kaffeeklatsch with Benning legitimizing the false narrative underpinning his lies about Thayer / J6.

            You asked, “Did Gregory Thayer breach the barricades at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6? Did he trespass?”

            But that *entire narrative* is a lie.

            Police moved the barricades aside and motioned people in. Police smiled and held the doors open for people as they entered the Capitol. And police murdered four innocent citizens.

            By lending narrative support to election / J6 lies, in official capacity as a state Senator and candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Benning is complicit in these crimes against the American people and in the persecution and abuse of the J6 political prisoners.

            Bloody Hill

            https://rumble.com/v1cn10p-bloody-hill.html

          • Re: “You asked, “Did Gregory Thayer breach the barricades at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6? Did he trespass? But that *entire narrative* is a lie.”

            Yes. That’s true. But I only asked the question. And it was when Mr. Ley answered that question (on Thayer’s behalf) that I endorsed Mr. Thayer.

            So, VT Citizen: you’re now two for two with your misinformation – giving credance to the axiom… ‘when you find yourself digging a hole you don’t want to be in, you should throw away the shovel.’

          • To ask if Thayer “breached the barricades at the U.S. Capitol,” and to make your vote for him conditional upon his answer, is to give credence to Joe Benning’s malevolent lies and to legitimize the entire false J6 narrative.

            Nobody “breached the barricades” or “trespassed” because the police moved the barricades aside, motioned people in, and then held the Capitol doors open for them.

            “If you can’t keep up with the conversation, better not try to join in at all.” – Hannibal Lecter

          • So, Mr. VT Citizen: we shouldn’t question anyone we consider supporting politically?

            Now I see what you’re using that shovel for.

            Three for three.

            Next.

    • We should come together….lol…..Gov Scott voted for Biden….

      Gov Scott, has done nothing to build the VTGOP and everything benefit himself. He doesn’t even build it in his own image, which he easily could.

      Maybe the UN puppets have something on him…what he does is very much what they want.

  5. And the same story plays out for another two years!

    Has anybody noticed, this is the exact same thing we say and do EVERY ELECTION!!!!!!

    And we are dumbfound that we get the EXACT SAME results????????

    It’s the perfect foil….Vermonters lose no matter what when these two people are on the ballot. I’m voting for neither candidate.

    Having Zuckerman win, which he will decidedly I might add is better. Perhaps at some point people will galvanize and come together around some ideas that aren’t globalist and are perhaps American, God loving…..

    Meanwhile the VTGOP….same as it ever was….

    and you may ask yourself

    how did i get here? “Talking Heads”…

    • Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
      Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
      Into the blue again after the money’s gone
      Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground

  6. Mr. Thayer,
    Why did you wait until almost the last minute to publish this statement, a moment after which many voters have already mailed in their ballots? One views this timing as something of a fake effort on your part. A conclusion might be drawn that your interest in having a solid Republican like Mr. Benning win the upcoming election is far below that of the sour grapes you are eating because many more Vermont Republicans viewed Sen. Benning as being far more and longer qualified to be our next Lt. Governor than they considered you to hold that title. To be blunt, you put your own selfish and best interests to be of far greater importance than those of our citizens and our Party. Shame on you for being such a poor looser.

  7. I worked with Gregory Thayer from the very beginning of his campaign, I traveled all over the State to support him. My Wife and I donated to his campaign. I have considered Gregory a very close friend.
    A couple things need clarification. First off Mr. Eshelman, Richard Ley and others told Gregory they wanted to start a write in campaign for him. They met with him to discuss how this could be done. Gregory asked me to write a Media release for this campaign.
    Many people have invested time and money to promote Gregory as the only option for a Republican who didn’t call 116,000 Vermonters who voted for President Trump, White Supremacists and Racists. Unlike Benning, Thayer does not support Article 22.

    I am extremely disappointed with what Thayer has done. He is effectively bailing on thousands of Vermonters who will never vote for the lessor of two evils. Benning is no more a Republican than Sanders.

    I encourage all Vermonters to write in someone that actually Represents them.
    Zuckerman hates America and Vermont, but he doesn’t lie about it.
    Benning will shake your hand and stab you in the back simultaneously.

    • Mr. Sexton: This issue is no longer about Benning or Zuckerman. My opinion of them both has been oft’ published here and on VDC. The issue now is whether or not conservatives can trust anyone running for office to stand behind their principles and resist the false flag of political compromise when individual liberty and freedom is at stake. It’s sometimes not important whether one wins or loses – but how one plays the game that counts.

      “I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.” ― Frederick Douglass

      • Absolutely, but you went after Richard Ley and others that supported Mr. Thayer.
        They did so with Thayer’s knowledge and approval.
        They did so with great hope and effort.

        There are some great Real VT Republicans, they stand for Pro Life and The Constitutions of VT and America.

        • I took issue with Mr. Ley because he chose to speak to me on Mr. Thayer’s behalf – as you are speaking now on Mr. Ley’s behalf. Sometimes we have to own the ground on which we stand. I did. Even though I too was deceived. I apologized for my poor judgement. And I will continue to do everything I can to be more diligent. That’s all I can do or ask of anyone.

  8. I’m still writing in Thayer. I would rather be shot in the chest by Zuckerman than stabbed in the back by Benning. Let the chips fall where they may.

  9. TNR and VDC readers: Please accept my personal mea culpa regarding any support I’ve allowed to Mr. Thayer and his minions. I’m dumbfounded by this announcement.

    Mr. Richard Ley: You have some serious explaining to do about your promotion of Gregory Thayer’s write-in campaign.

    And Mr. Thayer: Mr. Ley’s promotions were anything but a stealth campaign. That you waited until today to address this movement and remove yourself from consideration speaks volumes in describing your personal character and wisdom.

    And yes, it speaks volumes about my poor judgement of character too. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I suspect neither of you has any idea as to the extent of the damage you’ve done to Vermont conservatism in general.

    Again, to all, please accept my apology for having anything to do with Mr. Thayer’s campaign.

    • I’m going to allow you to explain to me way Mr. Benning has done for consevatism for Vermonters before I expres anything here.

      It must have been quite a meeting you had with Mr Benning..

      Don’t you find it odd that Mr Benning doesn’t post what he had to say so everyone can address it?

      If YOU want to support the “LIZ CHENEY” of Vermont that’s on you.

      Personally any attempt by you diminishing our rights to choose the candidate we will write in has absolutely no bearing on the people in the State of Vermont choosing not to vote for THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS.

      BENNING has proven that he is unworthy of the support of Vermonters that are totally distanancing themselves from this mad man who calls “PATRIOTS” white supremacists and insurrectionists and racists when doing his LIZ CHENEY imation in his attempt to destroy Vermont and America adding to the rhetoric of his destructive leaders claiming we are DOMESTIC TERRORISTS.
      Don’t forget Benning was instrumental behind the scenes starting a petition to Remove Trump from office early…This was done behind everyones back in the dark of night.

      Joe and Phil Scott voted for Biden and happily go along with his destruction of the United States of America

      Mr. Benning voted twice for Prop 5 and will vote for article 22.

      So you also support the slaughter of The unborn, the mutilation of our children and destruction of the family unit.

      Benning has been in full support of Biden continually bragging phe is a Scott republican.

      If you are imprssed with total lockdowns of our business and our schools and our public buildings and forcing the JAB on people totally opposed to it under threat of losing their jobs I have to believe you have no idea what conservative values are and that is why Mr. Benning has deceived you into supporting him.

      Scare tactics are Joes best friend.

      If we don’t vote for Joe we could end up with Dave…

      Not much difference between the two…Except Dave will tell you the truth.

      We can elect Gregory by being persistant in our gaol to elect people that have same goals we do.

      I’m praying that those that are opposed to slaughter of The unborn and believe in preserving the family unit are NOT AS EASILY LED as you appear to be.

      Gregory has worked day and night fighting CRT and the Slaughter of The unborn.

      Benning has been promoting it.

      I have lived my home state for many many years and have fought to protect it only to be be deceived by many politicians claiming to support consertavism when in fact they are doing just the opposite.

      Just who made the claim Benning was a republican?

      Who in their right mind is going to vote for someone who despises them and put him in a position to become governor?

      It’s time to send Benning down the same path that his fearless leader, Liz Cheney, was forced to the after she became a turncoat.

      I’m still fighting for the write in campaign for “Gregory M Thayer of Rutland”

      I’m encouraging everyone that is sick of seeing the destruction of our beautiful state at the hands of Joe Benning and other politicians who support his destctive agenda for Vermont.

      Some people wake up and others are woke.

      We can’t get the dirt out of the water until we get the pigs out of the creek

      VERMONTERS WAKE UP

      • Mr. Ley: I’m no longer talking about Joe Benning or David Zuckerman. We know who they are, what they say, and what they do. And I’ve been open with my criticism of them.

        But fair is fair. In this case, I was misled by you, speaking on behalf of Greg Thayer. As I said to Mr. Sexton, ‘Sometimes we have to own the ground on which we stand’.

        For the record, Joe Benning was always honest with me, disagreeing on certain issues as we did.

  10. Gregory,
    Vermont is between a rock and a hard spot, you have my respect for running
    and secondly for sending this letter…….VERMONT needs more like you !!

    Vermont better wake up, why’s Zuckerman running again, it’s not for the betterment
    of the state, as we’ve seen from his last go-round in Government.

    So we need Joe Benning for Lt. Governor, maybe we’ll get the state back on track
    by making Vermont ” affordable “, by stopping the liberal spending spree on foolish
    legislation…………………………………..Wake up people

  11. I have great respect for you Mr. Thayer. I sincerely wish you had won the primary. There are far few Republicans elected to office in this state, consisting of far too many RINOS.

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