The chair of the Vermont Republican Party has doubled down on her unabashed support for President Donald Trump, penning a blistering critique of his opponents that seems destined to deepen the ideological divisions within the struggling state party.
Deb Billado’s message, sent last week in the party’s official newsletter, derided the president’s critics as “left-wing hatemongers” and a “mob of hate-crazed, fear-driven people who have become deranged” because “crooked Hillary Clinton” lost to Trump. Billado described the president as a “principled man” who “can’t be bought.”
She suggested that former special counsel Robert Mueller was merely a “figurehead” whose “feeble” congressional testimony proved he “barely knew what happened in the investigation and obviously was not the person directing” it. She wrote that instead of blasting Trump for his efforts to solve the crisis at the southern border, Democrats, if they were patriots, would work with him to solve it.
“We know they are not capable of that,” Billado wrote. “Surely makes an observer think that they must hate America.”
Some elected Vermont Republicans immediately distanced themselves from Billado’s comments.
“This is not the tone or example we should be setting in Vermont and is an example of the divisiveness that’s hurting the country,” Rebecca Kelley, Gov. Phil Scott’s spokesperson, said in a written statement. “Governor Scott is committed to increasing the civility of our public discourse and treating all with respect, even when we disagree.”
Sen. Corey Parent (R-Franklin) tweeted that he was disappointed in Billado’s diatribe.
“Our country is deeply divided and the email sent out only seeks to gain cheap political points based on that division,” Parent wrote. “It’s time we all do better.”
Rep. Heidi Scheuermann (R-Stowe) tweeted that she expressed to Billado her “disappointment and frustration.” She posted a link to a piece written by Kenneth Hersh, president and CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, in the wake of the mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas. Scheuermann tweeted that she was struck by the “stark difference in message & tone.” Hersh’s message, she wrote, was “Dignified. Unifying. Inspirational.”
Billado said she had received several messages of support for her piece in recent days, and dismissed the criticism with, “That’s politics.”
“I’m doing what I believe my job is, and that is protecting Republicans,” she said. “The Republican Party’s mission is to get Republicans elected up and down the ticket.”
Senate Minority Leader Joe Benning (R-Caledonia) said he understands that Billado has a “very fine line” to walk as party chair in the current political climate, but he thinks the state party would be well served to focus on its core mission: Vermont.
“There is such a battle going on right now about the Trump presidency that I think many elements of the party are forgetting that the main role of the state party is about electing Republicans to the state legislature,” Benning said.
The state Republican platform of limited government can help address issues such as increasing property taxes and health care costs, unfunded state liabilities, and Vermont’s slipping credit rating, he said. But stoking divisions within the party makes it hard to keep those issues front and center.
“The shrillest voices are engaging in their self-confirming enclaves on social media, and those folks do not, in my opinion, represent the mainstream of the Republican Party,” Benning said.
Related Stories
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
Miss English clearly does not understand the methods used by the Nazis to come to power in post W.W. I Germany, to suggest that comparisons should not be made. An analysis of such horrific and dupplicate tactics is NOT the same as a “Sweeping Generalisation,” Miss English. One should not make sweeping generalizations; that is correct. But one should also not enable those sympathetic to blatant, Nazi-style tactics, continuing to enable such ugly a destructive ideas.
Thank you for leaving my posts up.
We have to be able to discuss the very real connections between the republican party and the rise of fascism in the US. To disallow that discussion is a great disservice to the community and to the integrity of the publication.
Yes it’s uncomfortable, and yes some folks will say that there is no connection, but what we are seeing in this country is a very real increase in actual nazis marching under swastikas in US cities. Burlington has seen nazi hate graffiti in the last few months.
When I see a republican attempting to increase their sphere of influence, with all of the very real nazification we see going on under tRump, I feel obliged to speak out about what I see. Agree or disagree, mileage may vary.
Not being allowed to discuss nazis…enables nazism. SevenDays “guidelines” forbid discussion of nazis and nazism so clearly SevenDays is now in the business of enabling nazis. Shame on you!!
Hi!
While we welcome civil discussion, our comment guidelines state: “Sweeping generalizations of any group or individual based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or age wont be tolerated. Neither will comparisons to Nazis.”
You can find our full comment guidelines here: https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/Commen…
My post referring to tRumpsm as nazism was pulled by SevenDays. I guess we are not allowed to discuss nazism in this publication. Shame on you. I am sure you’ll pull this post too.
She is a nutcase plain and simple for believing all of Trump’s lies and making the country look stupid!!
Many like myself, who have supported Democrats, miss Republicans like Jim Jeffords and George Aiken, because they represented a party that cared deeply about ALL Americans, not just Republican Americans. It is not a democracy anymore when one party despises and refuses to talk to or work with the other party as Republicans have been doing in Congress for more than a decade.
At a memorial service for a 97 year old friend this past weekend we sang “America the Beautiful”. Here are some lyrics that once again touched me:
“America, America,
God mend thy every flaw
Confirm thy soul in self control
And liberty in law”
and
“O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife
Who mere themselves their country loved
And mercy more than life!”
and finally,
“America, America
God shed his grace on thee
And crown they good with brotherhood
From sea to shinning sea”
Surely we can all do better in trying to live up to our own and our nation’s promise and ideals.
Some members of the Vermont Republican Party like Scott, Benning, Scheuermann and Parent have been practicing a policy of appeasement to Vermont’s liberal left in the hopes that, somehow, this will help them slide into their positions unnoticed. As we watch the current Montpelier policies run our state off the rails with plenty of examples such as reduced credit rating, people fleeing the state along with businesses, crumbling roads, unaffordable healthcare and raw sewage dumps into our drinking water, I believe it’s time for Republicans to offer a real choice and put some grownups back in charge…
It is sad that it is not even worth voting in VT. What we get is the Democratic presidential candidate and Bernie, Patrick and Peter.