LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky House Democrats are calling on Republican leaders to censure Rep. Savannah Maddox for comments she made during a rally at the state Capitol and "racist, homophobic and intolerant" tweets she posted five years ago.
Maddox, R-Dry Ridge, told WDRB News that she condemns acts of hatred, and that Democrats' criticism of her was an attempt at distracting voters from Gov. Andy Beshear's disastrous economic record.
Rep. Joni Jenkins, D-Shively, said comments made by Maddox and other legislators at a May 2 "Freedom Rally" fueled the "destructive fire" of Sunday's Second Amendment rights rally, at which gun-carrying protesters hung Gov. Andy Beshear in effigy on the Capitol grounds.
"Kentucky deserves no less" than House Republicans censuring, or formally disapproving, of Maddox's behavior, Jenkins said during a Wednesday news conference from the Capitol.
"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," House Democratic leaders said in a joint statement Wednesday.
Rep. Angie Hatton, D-Whitesburg, said Maddox and other legislative officials have brought fringe groups, such as the Kentucky Three Percenters, "into the mainstream" through their support of and comments made during rallies against Beshear's shutdown of the state's economy.
The Three Percenters are a militia group who believe 3% of the country’s population would be needed to overthrow a tyrannical government.
"That's not my Kentucky," Hatton said. "... No matter what you're calling yourselves, you're not acting like Revolutionary War heroes that are protesting a tyrant. These are threats of terror."
Sunday's incident drew sharp criticism from members of both political parties.
Beshear said Tuesday that the legislators who encouraged protesters at the May 2 rally to remove their masks and ignore social distancing guidelines "cannot fan the flames and then condemn the fire."
"Standing in front of a radical militia group, these elected officials claimed that people, including me, aren’t Christian, and even told them that people wanted babies to be murdered," Beshear said. "What do you think was going to happen after throwing out those type of claims to this group? Shouldn’t they have known what was going to happen?"
"Right is right, and wrong is wrong," Beshear said. "You can’t wait until something nasty and horrible happens to then claim it’s wrong, while you’ve then catered to the support of certain groups, for votes or other reasons."
Maddox told WDRB News via email that Kentucky Democrats are "scrambling to shore up political cover for the economic devastation Governor Beshear's actions have created."
Maddox said Wednesday's press conference was "part of a concerted effort to shift blame onto myself and other legislators who have stood by Kentuckians who are hurting. ... They are the reason that I will not be silenced in demanding accountability from our Governor."
"I stand in unison with the House Majority Caucus in condemning all acts of hatred in the context of political discourse,” Maddox said.
Related Stories:
- IN HIS WORDS | Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear responds to being hanged in effigy on Sunday
- Protesters hang Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear in effigy at state Capitol
- 'Freedom Rally' protesters gather at Capitol to call for Kentucky's businesses to reopen from pandemic shutdown
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