House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) on Thursday condemned the “name-calling” of a Twitter account that purports to represent her fellow House Democrats.
As Seven Days reported Tuesday, the Vermont Democratic Party has repeatedly tweeted insults and unsubstantiated accusations using the “VT House Dems” Twitter handle. One message described former Vermont Republican Party chair David Sunderland as “racist” and a “serial liar,” without evidence or explanation.
Johnson did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. But after an unrelated press conference Thursday, she told reporters, “I don’t approve of the language that was used. I don’t approve of that kind of tone. It’s not how I choose to operate, and I called the party and let them know.”
She said she spoke with the party’s executive director, Conor Casey, informing him, “I don’t want to be in any way connected with that kind of name-calling.”
Casey appears to have gotten the message, although he’s not striking a particularly repentant tone.
“We’ll tone down the Twitter account,” he said when asked about Johnson’s phone call. But the party leader then went on to defend his staff members, arguing that they have good reason to be “frustrated” with Vermont Republicans, who, in their view, have failed to take a stand against racism.
Political editor Paul Heintz contributed reporting.
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Isn’t responding to frustration with hate speech something ike fcking for virginity?
Neither party has any respectability. Going down into the gutter does not show any moral superiority. Not enthused with either Repubs or Dems at this point. In my opinion Conor Casey is not helping the status of the Democratic Party in the least and may well encourage more people to vote Repub in future.
VT Dems, does anyone have a petition calling for Connor Casey’s resignation/firing? If so, please post it as I would love to sign it.
Let’s please show House Leadership that we, the constituents, want better Party Leadership. If we don’t speak up, nothing will ever change.
I generally agree with the points made by VTObserver in his comment, but suggest that those disgruntled by the shenanigans of both the Republicans and the Democrats might find a nice home with the Progressives.