Rodney Garcia is refusing to resign after making threatening, hateful remarks about Democratic Socialists.
A local Billings Republican legislator, Representative Rodney Garcia, has attracted national attention for comments he made last Friday at the MT Republican Winter Kickoff meeting in Helena during a question and answer period. Garcia referred to the Constitution as his basis for his comments in that it is unacceptable to be a socialist and that they should be “jailed or shot.” State Representative Rodney Garcia said that there are a lot of socialists in Billings and alluded that he does not want them around.
Garcia’s comments drew backlash from not only the Montana Republican Party officials, but locals to the point that Montana House of Representatives Leadership asked Garcia to step down and resign.
“The Montana Republican Party wholeheartedly condemns the comment that was made and under no circumstance is violence against someone with opposing political views acceptable,” said Spenser Merwin, the Montana Republican Party Executive Director. “It’s disappointing that this isolated incident took away from the weekend’s events which showcased the strength of our statewide candidates and the importance of the upcoming election.”
The local Yellowstone County Republican Central Committee released the following statement on their Facebook post afterwards.
“Over the weekend, Representative Rodney Garcia made comments at the Republican winter kickoff regarding members of opposing political views. His comments do not warrant repeating. The Yellowstone County Republicans support the statement of the Montana GOP, under no circumstance is violence against someone with opposing political views acceptable.
The Yellowstone GOP believes our best battles are fought in the ballot box.”
Montana elected officials followed up with Garcia afterwards and asked him to take back his comments of which he doubled down and would not apologize as Montana Speaker of the House, Greg Hertz, Speaker Pro Tempore Wylie Galt and House Majority Leader Brad Tschida released the following letter calling on Rep. Rodney Garcia to resign.
The letter stated, “The purpose of this letter is to address the reports of your inflammatory and deeply disturbing comments on Friday, January 31st, 2020, in which you stated your belief that certain individuals should be subject to incarceration or execution based on their political beliefs. On February 1st, 2020, the Speaker of the House, asked you to disavow and retract your comments. You have failed to do so.”
The letter continued, “Your reckless and un-American remarks are beneath that of a public official and do not represent the values of the Republican Party, Montana House of Representatives, or the people of our great state. Your actions have irreparably undermined the body in which you serve and irrevocably broken the trust of those you were elected to represent. We believe it is clear that you can no longer effectively discharge the duties of the office you hold; therefore, it is our request that you submit your resignation with immediate effect.”
Rep. Rodney Garcia later doubled down on his comments this week and told another publication how he would resign “if God asked me to,” he said.
Rodney Garcia is refusing to resign after making threatening, hateful remarks about Democratic Socialists.
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