Democrat staffer tweets racist and sexist jokes – still employed

July 21, 2014

Rice

“#ImInTheFriendZoneBecause I have progressed past public physical abuse of women, but not quite past viewing them as property.” – Zach Tierney, Field Director Kathleen Rice for Congress

“When white tourists watch 4 black people walk by then stop you to ask how to buy a metrocard you’re supposed to tell them it’s $50 right?” – Zach Tierney, Field Director Kathleen Rice for Congress

Staffers on DCCC’s top recruit Kathleen Rice must be wondering exactly what they have to do to get fired. Over the weekend, Newsday (article provided below) reported that Zach Tierney, the Field Director for Rice’s Congressional Campaign, decided to take to Twitter to joke about domestic violence, women as property, and the Dominican Republic.

The New York Post followed up with an article highlighting another one of Tierney’s inappropriate tweets in which mademore racist jokes.

So what did the Rice campaign do? They used the opportunity to crassly attack Rice’s opponent and then indicated that Tierney had received some kind of unspecified “discipline.”

Sorry, that’s not going to be good enough. These were public statements made by a high ranking and paid Rice campaign staffer – anything less than firing this staffer for his insensitive and disgusting remarks is tantamount to adopting them.

One has to wonder what Rice’s neighbor and DCCC Chairman Steve Israel thinks . . .

NRCC Comment: “A high ranking staffer on Kathleen Rice’s campaign has repeatedly taken to Twitter to make racist and sexist jokes – yet amazingly the staffer remains on Rice’s payroll. If Rice doesn’t immediately remove this individual from her campaign, she will join the long and undistinguished list of Steve Israel’s recruits whose deeds don’t measure up to their campaign rhetoric.”– NRCC Spokesman Ian Prior

Blakeman: Rice should fire staffer over tweet

July 19, 2014 BY PAUL LAROCCO

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/spin-cycle-1.812042/blakeman-demands-rice-fire-staffer-over-tweet-1.8847114

 

Republican congressional candidate Bruce Blakeman is calling for his opponent to fire a campaign staffer who had posted a joke to Twitter about domestic violence. Blakeman, who is running to succeed Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) in Nassau County’s 4th District, issued a statement late Friday that condemned the tweet by Zach Tierney, an aide to Democrat Kathleen Rice’s campaign.

 

Tierney, a Manhattan resident who tweets under the handle “brotis redding,” wrote on April 6:

 

“#ImInTheFriendZoneBecause I have progressed past public physical abuse of women, but not quite past viewing them as property.”

 

The tweet — which Rice’s campaign called a “stupid, insensitive” attempt at sarcasm — was visible as of Friday afternoon, but had been deleted shortly after Blakeman issued his statement at 6 p.m. By 9 p.m., Tierney had set his Twitter account to private.

 

“Anyone who admits to — or even jokes about — engaging in physical abuse of women or views them as property has absolutely no place in a political campaign,” Blakeman said. “Kathleen Rice should immediately fire her staff member in question.”

 

Tierney did not respond to an email requesting comment. Rice has worked to protect victims of domestic violence in her position as Nassau district attorney, and has made women’s rights a centerpiece of her campaign.“

 

These were stupid, insensitive attempts at sarcasm and parody by a young staff member mocking the anti-women attitudes that have come to define Bruce Blakeman’s tea party,” said Rice spokesman Eric Phillips. “The campaign was unaware of these tweets, they have been removed from the staff member’s personal account, and he has been disciplined.”

 

Phillips did not disclose the nature of the discipline. Filings with the Federal Election Commission show that Rice’s campaign paid Tierney roughly $10,000 between March and June. He was listed as the contact for a recent posting by the campaign seeking field staff to “manage and grow Kathleen Rice’s grassroots operation in Nassau County.”

 

Another post cited by Blakeman’s campaign came on July 11, when Tierney wrote — after a concert by a popular Latin music artist — about seeing “more Dominican girls walking over the 145th st bridge right now than there are girls in the Dominican Republic.” That tweet had also been deleted late Friday.

 

“Ms. Rice also owes us an explanation as to why she pays this individual $2,500 a month when he displays, or even at best inappropriately jokes, about his hatred of women and people of different backgrounds,” said Blakeman, a businessman and former presiding officer of the Nassau County Legislature.