Sheridan County GOP removes racist Facebook post after chairman calls it ‘inappropriate’

The Sheridan County Republican Party posted a racist message on its Facebook page Tuesday afternoon, using a racial slur and several derogatory stereotypes about Black Americans to describe the candidacy of former President Donald Trump, before delete the message about 45 minutes later.

The message refers to a campaign stop Trump made on Sunday in suburban Philadelphia, where he worked as a fryer at a McDonald’s.

The Sheridan County Republican Party’s Facebook post included a still image from a local television station’s coverage of that day. In the image, an apron-clad Trump stands next to a sign reading “This McDonald’s is locally owned and operated.”

Below the image is a racist slur.

“Trump is even more of a ****r candidate now,” it reads. The insult was crossed out in the message.

Several bullet points are included below the text, including “all gold plated with his name on it”, “multiple baby mamas”, “mugshot”, “34 crimes”, “got shot” and “worked at McDonald’s for a day and resigned. .”

It also included “dindu nuffin,” which is a derogatory contraction of the words “did nothing,” according to Hatebase, a website that tracks hate speech.

The Sheridan GOP captioned the post: “Even though this really isn’t a thing in Wyoming, you have to admit it’s pretty funny. »

A reverse Google image search traces the post to a far-right online forum popular with extremists and which frequently hosts violent, anti-Semitic and racist content, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Party response

Sheridan County GOP Chairman Bryan Miller said the post was removed because it was “inappropriate” and did not represent the party.

Miller, who was unaware of the post until WyoFile initially contacted him, said he does not manage the party’s social media accounts. Rather, it is the responsibility of the organization’s “communications team.”

“I called and talked to our team, and one of the people thought it was funny. I said, “I don’t think that’s the case, get rid of it.” And they did,” Miller said.

Miller declined to share further details about who is on the communications team or who posted the message.

“We don’t share the names of our people who do our posts and stuff because people here and across the state end up doxing them and doing all this crap,” Miller said. “And I won’t do that to my people, even if they’re wrong.”

The message comes two weeks before Election Day, when Trump is expected to handily win Wyoming’s three Electoral College votes against Vice President Kamala Harris. Several polls indicate a tight race in other states as both candidates enter their final days of campaigning.

“Ultimately, it was inappropriate, and so (I) had it removed because it is not representative of Sheridan County,” Miller told WyoFile. “It’s as simple as that. There is nothing more to do.

Miller said the role of the organization’s Facebook page is to “get information out to people,” because he said the media generally doesn’t pay enough attention to county party affairs.

When asked what information is important for people to have right now, Miller said, “nothing in particular, other than people need to get out and vote.”

Early voting is underway in Wyoming. The general elections will take place on November 5.