KDP: Maddox Must Resign Day 3: Controversial and Racist Tweets Exposed
EDITOR'S NOTE: See related stories in the Louisville Courier-Journal: Kentucky House Democrats call for censure of Rep. Savannah Maddox following effigy and in Forward Kentucky: House Dems call for censure of Maddox. The story includes a press release from Reps. Joni Jenkins, Derrick Graham, and Angie Hatton and a link to their remarks at a press conference. The statement said: “We are asking Rep. Maddox to renounce and apologize for comments she made this month and in tweets years ago. To echo Governor Beshear’s remarks, you cannot fan the flames and then condemn the fire. Rep. Maddox’s words and actions have gone too far, and it is time for the House to make an official stand and declare this is not who we are and that we should not tolerate such hateful rhetoric.” The Kentucky State AFL-CIO COPE Committee unanimously endorsed Jenkins, Graham and Hatton for reelection. No Democrat filed to run against Maddox nor does she have Republican primary opposition.
By KENNY COLSTON
Kentucky Democratic Party
Frankfort, KY —After days of deflections about her coziness with a white supremacy group, recently revealed tweets from Rep. Savannah Maddox shows she has a history of racist and controversial ideas.
Maddox has been photographed at leasttwice with members of the Kentucky chapter of the Three Percenters, including the president of the chapter that hung Gov. Andy Beshear in effigy over the weekend. But she has deflected calls for her resignation due to her association.
She has also spent the last 24 hours scrambling to delete old tweets.
“It’s time for Rep. Maddox to stop pretending to be a victim. She knows that her own words expose the truth for what it is, that’s why she’s been frantically trying to delete the tweets that have been exposed over the last few days, said Marisa McNee, spokesperson for Kentucky Democrats. “ She has insulted too many Kentuckians for too long. It’s time for her to apologize to the Governor and his family. It is time for her to apologize to her colleagues in the General Assembly for her awful behavior. It’s time for her to apologize to the public. If she cannot bring herself to do the right thing, then it’s time for her to go. And it’s time for Speaker Osborne and Senate President Stivers to reign in their members who have crossed way too many lines at this point. Kentucky deserves better.”In now deleted tweets from 2015, it’s clear Rep. Maddox has always held racist beliefs. In an October 2015 tweet, Maddox responded to someone calling President Barack Obama a “coon” by saying that “Obama is not black. He is of African ancestry, not sharing the Black American heritage or experience.”