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Riverside County GOP Twitter Sends Out Pic Of Executioner With Caption, 'Ready For Hillary'
This was tweeted from the Riverside County GOP Twitter account @RPRC @HillaryClinton https://t.co/Ua52d9RmxO pic.twitter.com/aodh36H8Xg
— Jeff Horseman (@JeffHorseman) August 3, 2016
There are good ideas, and there are bad ideas. A prime example of the latter would be the tweet sent out Wednesday by the Riverside County Republican Party's Twitter account, with a photo of a hangman prepping a fresh noose and the caption, "I'm Ready for Hillary."
One Twitter user had tweeted at the account asking if they knew where a sign reading "Republicans for Hillary" could be acquired. Many Republicans, including Ted Cruz, have voiced their disapproval of Donald Trump, so the sentiment should be no more surprising than die-hard Bernie Sanders fans who are expressing disinterest in voting for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. In response, the account tweeted back a photo of a bloody executioner at the gallows with the caption, "I'm ready for Hillary." A second tweet with the same image apparently read, "sorry they never arrived but this is pretty popular," according to the Press Enterprise.
The tweet was deleted later that afternoon, and Riverside County GOP Chairman Scott Mann released the following statement:
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I was made aware of derogatory Tweet this afternoon toward Secretary Clinton when the Press-Enterprise called me for comment. I was horrified and had the Tweet taken down immediately. While some may think it was political satire, it clearly has no place in American political dialogue.
Mann also said that the person who tweeted the image no longer has access to the organization's Twitter account. That person has not been publicly identified. In an earlier email, Mann had apparently told the Press Enterprise that the "meme" was "nothing more than political satire."
Riverside County Democratic Party Chairman Howard Katz said he views the image as a threat, not political satire, and that if anything should happen to Clinton "based on this kind of stuff that the Republican Party is printing or putting forth on social media, they should be held accountable for it to the full extent of the law."
Update [5:15]: Nathan Miller, a Republican advisor to Board of Equalization member Diane Harkey, has admitted to sending the tweet and has stepped down from his position. According to The Press-Enterprise, Miller was on taxpayer time when he sent the tweet, which is against state law. Miller is also vice president the Riverside Community College District Board of Trustees.
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