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Lawmaker Offers Real-Time Masterclass on How NOT to Respond to Your Own Homophobic Tweets and Arrest Warrant Scandals

Heory
Lawmaker Offers Real-Time Masterclass on How NOT to Respond to Your Own Homophobic Tweets and Arrest Warrant Scandals

State Senator Jimmy Dillon of Philadelphia is probably someone we could spend our whole lives not knowing, thinking about, or caring about. He’s just your average, average state legislator who doesn’t seem to have too many characteristics mixed up and gets the job done.

Until this week.

The 45-year-old Democratic lawmaker, who was first elected in a 2022 special election and is currently seeking a four-year term, was just caught writing some truly disgusting tweets between 2011 and 2015 while serving as the director of the Hoops 24-7 Basketball Academy.

The tweets were written under his Twitter handle @Hoops24_7 and included repeated use of the N-word, as well as “jokes” about Asians and gays. Here’s just a sampling…

The tweets have since been deleted, and Dillion, in a truly bizarre turn of events, yesterday stated that he never wrote them and never actually wrote them. I saw them before this week. It’s just the weirdest, weirdest thing, you people!

He then blamed it on someone on his staff, even though he had control of the account at the time and often posted first-person and shared photos and videos of himself and his family. He still works at a basketball academy while serving as a state senator, and the account still shares his posts from the Senate.

“I’m not a huge fan of social media,” he said in a statement yesterday. “For a basketball player who works with Hoops 24-7 to post something like that over a decade ago is the first I’ve heard of it and it doesn’t reflect my values.”

Sure, some random, unidentified, low-level employee is to blame… who, in this case, clearly wasn’t under very close supervision, because the tweets went unchecked for years.

The Republican Senate Campaign Committee released screenshots of the tweets yesterday, along with a statement from executive director Cody Harbaugh condemning them.

“Let’s be clear, this wasn’t a teenager making a mistake or a single comment taken out of context,” he said. “This was a grown man in his 30s who freely used the N-word and made disgusting jokes on social media multiple times.”

In response, Dillon’s campaign pushed back on the SRCC’s accusations, calling them simply another example of “typical false distraction by MAGA Republicans.”

“They take decades-old tweets that someone else wrote and wave them around like a bunch of maniacs,” spokesman Mark Nevins said. “Meanwhile, they hope we’re too stupid to notice, while they try to take away women’s reproductive rights, block access to in vitro treatment, and block common-sense gun violence legislation. Sorry, weirdos. That’s not happening.”

What?

Meanwhile, Brittany Crampsie, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, also came to Dillon’s defense.

“Senator Dillon’s record speaks for itself,” she said. “He has been a strong advocate and consistent voice for Black and LGBTQ Pennsylvanians at every opportunity. He has mentored and mentored young people from all walks of life throughout his career. Distasteful tweets from over a decade ago by someone else won’t change that.”

The whole thing Twitter The X controversy is just the latest in a series of scandals Dillion has been embroiled in recently. Earlier this month, reports surfaced that he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest in New Jersey for unpaid speeding and driving without a license tickets, as well as failing to appear in court. Dillion has not commented on the matter.

Crampsie was right about one thing. This guy’s record really speaks for itself!

In Pennsylvania, Republicans control the state Senate 28-22. They hope to increase their majority in November. Democrats, meanwhile, are trying to increase their numbers. But with Dillion on the ballot, it looks like it will be a tough fight.

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