In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, the Kentucky House Democratic Leadership called on the Republican leadership of the House to begin a formal censure of Rep. Savannah Maddox for her recent “incendiary” comments.
The three members of the Dem leadership team — Reps. Joni Jenkins, Derrick Graham, and Angie Hatton — each delivered a spoken statement, then took questions from the reporters at the press conference. The entire press conference can be watched here.
The call for censure was based on two factors:
- Rep. Maddox taking part in a rally at the state Capitol earlier this month that was widely condemned for its racist imagery, at which Maddox spoke and then had her picture taken with a women using a white supremacy symbol.
- The discovery of a number of social media messages written some years ago that the leaders said were racist, homophobic, and intolerant of other religions.
Two example tweets that were shared:
In a press release, the leadership team released this statement:
“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.”
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