A Twitter account run by the Vermont Democratic Party on Sunday called David Sunderland, the former Vermont Republican Party chair, “a racist and a serial liar” — with no supporting evidence. It was the latest in a series of caustic tweets coming from the “VT House Dems” account.
VDP executive director Conor Casey declined Tuesday to disclose which staff member composed the tweets, telling Seven Days, “The buck stops with me.”
And while Casey conceded that “maybe calling someone a racist goes a bit far,” he defended the general tone and content of the tweets. “It’s a little more hard-hitting, a little more conversational,” he said.
Vermont Republicans have recently taken to Twitter to complain about the VT House Dems account. And in a Monday press release, Vermont GOP executive director Jeffrey Bartley characterized the tweets as “name calling, outlandish accusations, and outright hostility to anyone with whom they may have political differences.”
Many of the tweets have taken aim at Sunderland, calling him a “scumbag surrogate” as well as a racist. Other tweets refer to Gov. Phil Scott staffer Hayden Dublois as “dumb” and one-time Republican state legislative candidate Scot Shumski as a “crybaby bigot.”
“I think their feelings were hurt,” Casey said. “It just seems like way overly sensitive.” He continued, “They’re the ones who are mostly engaging in this Twitter war.”
How do top House Democrats feel about the content of an account being run in their name? House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) and House Democratic Majority Leader Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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…Why didn’t anyone ever ask the official VTGOP account to provide evidence of Leahy buying off journalists? Not that these questions shouldn’t be asked. Go for it. But I’d be very interested to hear why VT press didn’t defend themselves against such accusations.
Lying, fake news and name calling are part of the Democratic Party. If anything can be done to smear Trump or any Republican, the Liberal press is right on it.
Way to take the high road, Conor. YOU are part of the problem. Despite what you may want to believe, ordinary Vermonters aren’t interested in the partisan, one-up-personship, flame-throwing social media bs. DO something for your constituents … or STFU.
Who are Conor’s constituents
I wish the VT House Dems had such conviction and vociferousness when it came to confronting their Republican peers in the statehouse. The Vermont Dems are a pathetically spineless group that is more interested in being the majority than passing good policy. Just look at the otherwise “liberal” Vermonters who voted for Governor Scott because they were worried about the Dems having control of the legislature and the Governorship. And what did the Dems accomplish when they DID have total control for 6 years?
Clean Water Funding? Nope.
Real action on climate change? Nope.
Universal Healthcare? Ehhh they passed the law, but most Dems were happy when Shumlin killed it.
Gun safety? Nope.
Anything on the drug war? Nope.
The VT House Dems twitter is notably silent when it comes to addressing these issues. It may be fun and cathartic to call people names on Twitter…but it seems as if that is all the VT House Dems can do…
Name calling and insults has no place in either party. Talk issues, talk about how to work together to solve VT problems. These tweets remind me of someone who also opens his mouth and inserts his foot. Stop the foolishness – it is not the Vermont way.
Re: And while Casey conceded that maybe calling someone a racist goes a bit far, he defended the general tone and content of the tweets. Its a little more hard-hitting, a little more conversational, he said.
Seriously Conor? I have too much respect for my legislative colleagues, whatever their party affiliation, to believe any of them would stoop to this level of “conversation.” (Hopefully some of them will be adding their voices to this comment thread.) This has no place in Vermont. Period.
I cringe every time I see one of these tweets. I’m a Vermont Dem, and I want nothing to do with the rancorous tone and puerile content coming from this account. As many have pointed out, this is not how we do things in Vermont, and that’s part of what has made us special for many years. Don’t wreck it.
At times I have been the focus of this twitter handle’s ire…I was always just pleased to see they had a sense of humor.
LOL – Conner Casey and his minions who just last year pretended to be so outraged when I called one of their committee members, a really big fellow, a “big hunk of meat” – I was only pointing out that they were certainly getting their monies worth. They threw me out of the party for this infraction but scumbag, crybaby bigot, racist, . . . – maybe it’s time for Conner to clean house OR if the buck” truly stops with him, shouldn’t he resign ?
What really make no sense here is that they are taking pot shots at Sunderland who has left the stage – WTF ! Why not at least keep their attack on the current target or are they so ill-informed that they don’t know who the opposition is ! Have vicious and vacuous Snowflakes and Buttercups seized control of the VDP ?
Connor Casey and his ilk should be absolutely ashamed of the mess they are creating at a time when politics and arguably the Democratic Party are decisive enough.
I am a Democrat but it’s shit like this that makes me wince to claim party affiliation.
Connor is right: the buck does stop with him, this is the tone he has set for the office and he should resign or get fired. Additionally, the person responsible should be fired because one of these tweets was a fire-able offense … and he/she kept going.
After cleaning house, the Party needs to do some soul searching about messaging and leadership because this isn’t how you do it, guys.
Wow! Call someone a racist and then say “I think someone’s feelings were hurt”? Where did Casey go to Troll Academy anyway? So much melting on twitter. This is embarrassing.