Last night’s Seahawks-Packers game enraged many football fans and led to widespread criticism of scab replacement referees brought in thanks to a lockout of the NFL’s unionized referees.

One group that has surprisingly come to the side of the unionized referees is prominent Republicans. Here’s four prominent Republicans who have suddenly realized the virtues of union workers thanks to the NFL lockout:

  1. The Republican National Committee’s Communications Director: The RNC’s Sean Spicer said that the NFL should give the unionized referees “what they want” because the replacement referees are “horrible.” [9/23]
  2. Senate Candidate Pete Hoekstra: Hoekstra just released an ad poking fun at his Democratic opponent by bashing “replacement refs.” [9/25]
  3. Union-Busting Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker: Walker tweeted that we need to “returntherealrefs.” [9/25]
  4. Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan: Ryan Ai??said it’s “time to get the real refs” during a campaign stop. [9/25]

It’s great that all these Republicans are backing the NFL referees, who are simply asking for a more fair agreement from their employers. But one has to wonder if they realize there’s a huge disconnect between backing these unionized employees in their labor fight while simultaneously throwing teachers, firefighters, cops, and other union workers under the bus.

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