Updated on December 12, 2017.
A Republican national committeewoman in the Midwest resigned Monday over the RNC’s financial backing for Roy Moore, the GOP’s candidate for a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. Moore’s campaign in Alabama has been beset by accusations that he committed sexual misconduct and pursued relationships with underage girls. But while Joyce Simmons of Nebraska wants her party to keep away from Moore, her Vermont counterpart has no such compunction.
“I strongly disagree with the recent RNC financial support directed to the Alabama Republican Party for use in the Roy Moore race,” Simmons wrote in an email to the RNC. “There is much I could say about this situation, but I will defer to this weekend’s comments by Senator Shelby.”
Republican Richard Shelby, Alabama’s senior senator, said that his state deserved a better candidate and that he cast an absentee write-in vote in tomorrow’s special election.
Vermont Republican National Committeewoman Suzanne Butterfield of Gaysville* told Seven Days that she stands behind Moore.
“If this stuff were accurate, it would have come out years ago,” Butterfield said. “I think it’s a smear campaign.”
At least eight women have accused Moore of misconduct or assault. Their allegations have been corroborated by other witnesses. But after giving inconsistent accounts of his behavior, Moore has settled on “smear campaign” as his hardline defense.
Butterfield’s views are not shared by Republican Gov. Phil Scott.
“Sexual assault and harassment cannot be tolerated and must be taken seriously, with perpetrators being held accountable,” he said in a written statement Tuesday morning. “Roy Moore’s many accusers are believable and therefore I do not support, nor would I advocate for, electing Mr. Moore to the U.S. Senate … I hope partisan politics loses, and common decency prevails in that election.”
A clear statement of principle, but one that failed to address the actual question I asked: “Does the Governor have any comment about Butterfield’s stance? Or on how the VTGOP is representing our state at the RNC?”
On this issue as on others, Scott definitively puts himself at odds with national Republicans and President Donald Trump, but there’s no sign that he is trying to influence his own state party in a moderate, bipartisan direction.
*Correction, December 12, 2017: A previous version of this story misidentified Butterfield’s town of residence.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
Despicable that this Vermont Republican endorses a sexual predator of minors (and the predator in the White House), and her lame defense that it would have come up years ago shows her complete and utter detachment to the fact that victims often stay quiet about their abuser for years, sometimes carrying it to their graves, as they are often conflicted with bringing back the trauma and PTSD in revisiting the abuse, the reprisals and being made an outcast by family members and community members who do not want to deal with it, and the fear of confronting their abuser. But obviously Butterfield relies on the same level of denial, lack of empathy and cognitive dissonance on this issue that allows her to endorse all of the other truly harmful, reckless and destructive policies being carried out by this Congress and this President. Truly shameful.
I have a friend right here in Vermont who decided to come out publicly and speak about the fact that she was raped over 40 years ago by her college professor while in grad school. She had kept it quiet all these years, due to the severe trauma of what she went through, but seeing all of the women across this nation who are finding the courage and support to hold their abusers accountable, she decided to do the same. Why is Suzanne Butterfield incapable of accepting that reality, that victims sometimes find it severely painful and difficult to talk about their abuse?
And does Butterfield endorse the fact that Roy Moore put giant replicas of the Ten Commandments in his court house when he was a judge?
Upton Sinclair said it best, over 80 years ago: “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross”.
People in VT wringing their hands over Trump and Moore, saying WHAT CAN WE DO? can get busy and vote to defeat all Republicans until the party reforms itself. VT National Committeewoman supports Moore and Trump. She was chosen by those nice VT Republicans. NOT nice at all! Reject the party, the agenda, and the candidates no matter how nice they seem.
I’m with Ernie on this one. This Republican committewoman must have lived a charmed life if she has nothing in her background that she has buried in order to get on with survival. Most women of my generation had all their buried stories come roaring back after Trump’s video with Billy Bush got aired. Women I’ve known for years were in terrible shape after the disclosure as they had to re-process what they had experienced and suppressed for years. I finally divulged that I had been raped twice, and couldn’t even count the number of the harassments I suffered as a woman lawyer in the late 1970s. There weren’t a lot of us around, and the treatment we received was execrable. Imagine being a teenager and being harassed by the district attorney, for goodness sake. Who do you report it to???? Only a Republican denier could find this long silence suspicious. The #MeToo movement has generally been good for this country, but if people deny the veracity of women’s stories now, it is cruel and heartless. Oh, I just described the Republican party. Sorry.
Nice double standard. Good thing for Moore he’s not a democrat or he’d have been gone by now. We certainly are a nation of ass-grabbers. Flag-wrapped ass-grabbers.
I suspect she’s quite quick to believe all the accusations against any Democratic politician. It’s party before morals, party before country for Ms. Butterfield.
It’s time for the Vermont Republican party to show some courage and remove this woman from her position. Her position on this is reprehensible and unless they get rid of her, they are no better than she is.
Although some states have statutes of limitations on rape there is no statute of limitation on an accusation. Therefore all accusations should be taken seriously no matter what your party affiliation is. By not taking accusations seriously you are the root of the problem. As far as Ray Moore goes, the accusations against him involve children whether it was 10 years ago 30 years ago 40 years ago it matters not.
I double above comment-time for this person who is out of touch with modern times to go. I take pride in VT repubs being above the despicable national trends. Vt has a long tradition of socially positive views and fiscal conservative positions and that this person said this is a sad reflection on our VT republican party.
alleged rapes aside
How can one defend this nasty racist?
He wishes for the days of slavery.
Ms. Butterfield lives a very different world (vermont) than the Alabama survivors of Moore’s abuse. Remember that he was a District Attorney, and then a judge and AL Supreme Court judge. In other words, they would be accusing the chief law enforcement officer in their hometown, and then accusing someone in judicial robes, in one of the most conservative, male dominated hierarchical states (and cultures) in our nation. Good luck with that, eh? But what about the FACT that at the time the events they describe were taking place, people at the mall say they had to ban him from the mall? THAT was known, THAT came out. It corroborates their stories.
Ms. Butterfield: Every time you look in a mirror, I hope you shudder at what Donald Trump has done to you and your party, and maybe even your soul.
I expect each Republican town committee to vote on demanding the resignation of Butterfield from State Chair. If she doesn’t comply, I would expect them to revolt and pick their own chair to represent their state party, she obviously doesn’t .
Suzanne Butterfield of Gaysville*
Isn’t it ironic.
Whether Moore or Jones is elected, the all-consuming effort of Liberal Democrats is to impeach Trump. Get over it. Trump will be re-elected in 2020 for another four years and Obama’s only legacy will be that he was the first Black President. Trump will go down in history as the President who preserved the Constitution and saved America from a Socialist takeover.
WHAT A MORON SHE IS!!
The Vermont Republican Party used to be defined by principled leaders; Aiken, Stafford, Jeffords. At one time you could hold your head high and proudly call yourself a Republican in Vermont. Please join me in pledging to not vote for ANY Vermont Republican until the party leadership is wrestled from bottom feeders such as Suzanne Butterfield and replaced by a principled and moral leadership team. The Vermont Republican Party will not change until their feet are held to the fire and they feel the consequences of their immoral and irresponsible behavior.
Perhaps the best news tonight is that Doug Jones beat the sex predator, and this idiot’s support for Moore will go the way of the dodo. People have stood up to support the women who had the courage to come out and speak truth to power. How one can reasonably expect women to make these allegations about a man who was first a DA, then a judge and then chef justice of the state supreme court, is absolutely beyond me. Maybe the Republican party here will do the right thing and dump her. However their track record with Toensing doesn’t hold out much hope.
As someone who was sexually assaulted when I was a child, it isnt that damned easy to say anything about it, ever, much less at the time. People who think that it is fake because it was not brought out 40 years ago in my opinion, are not hearing what the women are saying. I admit that I do not know word for word what they all said, but I do know what the first woman said and it has a deadly ring of truth to my ears. And one example of sexual misconduct with a 14 year old really should be enough to bring about questioning of a 32 year olds morals, motives and fitness for a position of authority. In America we like to-lets call it, look on the bright side, but a lot of bad stuff happens, and it doesnt go away because we dont look. America can only be as great as our behavior in our darkest moments.
Butterfield is an embarrassment to any decent VT Republican and NEEDS TO GO!!!!
VT “patriot” is just plain delusional!!
And it is high time we hold Predator-In-Chief Trump to the same standard…he need to go as well!
It’s a shame Clinton didn’t properly pay for his own misdeeds, he surely wouldn’t get away with it today.
Correction: I meant to say that I was quoting Sinclair Lewis in my comment below, not Upton Sinclair.
She needs to go! Vermonters deserve better!
All you Democrats and you know who you are, trashing Pres Trump and all the other Republicans. One question, where were you when your great Democrat Pres BJ Billy Boy Clinton had sex in the Oval Office many times with young interns, he had women brought in the WH by the side door for him to have sex with, Where was your disgust when he raped many women while Governor of Arkansas, Were you there to stand up for these women who accused Clinton, no you just tore these women down, calling them liars, sluts etc?? All were quiet when this came out. There is a lot of secrets in DC on both sides. Because someone stands by a fellow Republican she is called for to be replaced. She must have lived a charmed life if she has nothing in her background that she has buried in order to get on with survival. Do you know her life??? As for Moore it has already come out that 2 of these women were lying, they admitted they lied. Oh, by the way, what about Shumlin who was having an affair with a young woman while married and Governor of Vt but that’s ok isn’t it because he’s a Democrat? Rape and sexual misconduct is not right nor acceptable no matter what.