Mass. GOP Distancing Itself from Homophobic Slur-Using Senate Candidate
Ted Busiek refuses to apologize for using ‘faggot’ in a tweet. In fact, he wrote another 2,400 words defending it.
There’s quite a juxtaposition on display in State Senate race brewing in the Middlesex and Worcester District, which will likely pit Democratic incumbent Jamie Eldridge, an emphatic supporter of progressive causes and Beacon Hill water fountains, against, well, this guy.
DONALD TRUMP. Putting self-righteous faggots in their place since 1993. How I love this fellow.#MAGA twitter.com/allinwithchris…
Ted Busiek, 30, of Littleton, spent four years in the Air Force, and is now seeking Eldridge’s seat, which the Acton Democrat has held since 2009. He’s drawn criticism this week for using the homophobic slur “faggot” to describe Democratic Congressman George Miller of California in the accompanying video of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sparring with Congress over federal tribal gaming policy.
Busiek, a Trump supporter, told the State House News Service he used the word not in a “hateful sense,” but to convey that Miller was “obnoxious” and “kind of being a jerk.”
On Twitter, Eldridge, who backed Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary, called Busiek’s language “unacceptable,” and urged him to apologize and consider dropping out. Stan Rosenberg, the first openly gay Senate president in Massachusetts, said that Busiek would “not be a welcome addition to the state Legislature.”
While he says he has nothing against LGBT folk, Busiek says he opposes gay marriage and is “absolutely opposed” to same-sex couples adopting children. Instead, he’s argued, this is a matter of free speech.
“Every frat boy, all the guys I met in the military, and most—any man between the ages of 25 and 35 probably uses that word in a non-hateful sense,” he told Fox 25.
To further his case, Busiek—whose other policy positions include eliminating all affordable housing, outright banning abortion, and scrapping EBT—penned a 2,400-word treatise on CommentMagazine.net, a blog that lists him as executive editor. “Faggot,” as he uses it, is merely the parlance of “uneducated proles”—precisely the people he hopes to represent, he says.
“I’m fine with not saying ‘faggot,’ because I’m willing to believe that there are some who genuinely find the term hateful and hurtful,” he wrote. “But I’m not blind to the fact that for a contingent of the [social justice warrior] word-police, the goal is to ban any words that reflect the existence of a culture which views homosexuality unfavorably. Because they’d rather that that culture, my culture, simply didn’t exist.”
The Mass. GOP is distancing itself from Busiek, the lone Republican candidate on the September 8 primary ballot, condemning his remarks in a statement Wednesday.
“Obviously, Mr. Busiek’s language is completely unacceptable and does not reflect the values of the Republican Party,” chairman Kirsten Hughes said. State party officials added that they do not intend to spend any time or money in Busiek’s district, and the decision to drop out will be his to make.
This isn’t the first time Busiek has chafed with party leadership. In June, he called transgender people “perverts” after Gov. Charlie Baker, a fellow Republican, said he would sign the House version of a non-discrimination bill.
Don't do it, @CharlieBakerMA. These perverts aren't who got you elected, and pandering won't make them your friends.twitter.com/CriticalMA1/st…
Lawmakers on Beacon Hill reportedly reached a compromise Wednesday over the transgender rights bill, with votes expected in both houses of the Legislature Thursday. Baker is expected to sign the legislation.
Republican Wack-A-Ding Ted Busiek is running for election for State Senate...Huh? Never run for office before?
Ted Busiek has some bizarre notions about government.....
This Republican Wack-A-Ding is running against State Senator Jamie Eldridge.
It has been my experience that Senator Jamie Eldridge has well reasoned positions, carefully considered and supported by FACTS.
Massachusetts does not indulge in the HATE speech and Hate-filled ideology of a demagogue like Donald Trump that an adolescent like Ted Busiek has endorsed.
Kick this Puppy to the side of the road where he belongs!
Ted Busiek: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
July 5, 2016
Daniel S. Levine
Ted Busiek is a Republican running for the Massachusetts State Senate. He’s a staunch Donald Trump supporter and earned some attention on Twitter by using a homophobic slur in a tweet on July 2. Busiek has stood by his message, telling State House News Service that it wasn’t used in a “hateful sense.” He also stood by his use of the term on Twitter.
Here’s a look at Busiek and what his stances are on major issues.
1. Busiek’s Tweet Criticized the Congressman Who Questioned Trump in 1993 Over Indian Casinos
DONALD TRUMP. Putting self-righteous faggots in their place since 1993. How I love this fellow.#MAGA twitter.com/allinwithchris…
In Buiek’s original tweet, he retweeted a post from MSNBC’s Chris Hayes that included video from Trump’s 1993 testimony in front of the Native American affairs committee. During the testimony, Trump said that some of the casino operators he’s encountered “don’t look Indian to me.”
“You’re saying only Indians can have the reservations, only Indians can have the gaming,” Trump later tells Representative George Miller of California. “So why aren’t you approving it for everybody? Why are you being discriminatory? Why is it that the Indians don’t pay tax, but everybody else does? I do.”
“DONALD TRUMP. Putting self-righteous f*****s in their place since 1993. How I love this fellow,” Busiek wrote on Twitter. He added “#MAGA” for “Make America Great Again,” Trump’s slogan.
2. Busiek Defended His Language & Said the Congressman Questioning Trump Was a ‘Jerk’
Ted Busiek’s Twitter profile photo. (Twitter/Ted Busiek)
In his interview with State House News Service, Busiek said he used the term to describe the congressman in the video, who he calls “obnoxious” and “kind of a jerk.” He added, “You can insult somebody without being hateful.”
Senator Jamie Eldridge, who is running against Busiek, told the State House News Service that Busiek needs to apologize and possibly even drop out.
It doesn’t look like Busiek has any intention of doing either of those. “Just imagine what an unsafe world we’d live in if not for the language police to tell us what words we can’t say,” he wrote in another tweet.
Just imagine what an unsafe world we'd live in if not for the language police to tell us what words we can't say. twitter.com/CMassPolitics/…
“The important thing to know about the people destroying our country is that it’s bad to call them mean names,” he later added.
3. Busiek Served in the Air Force as an Arabic Translator
According to a Wicked Local profile of Busiek, he lives in Littleton, Massachusetts and grew up in Acton. He has been interested in politics since he was 14 and worked for Vernon Robinson in 2006 when Robinson ran unsuccessfully for Congress in North Carolina.
In 2008, he joined the military and was an Arabic translator in the Air Force. He has an associate’s degree in the language from the Defense Language Institute. He was honorably discharged in 2013 and now works for a marketing firm.
This is his first time running for political office and he thinks he can win.
“So this is really just the first time it’s been a feasible possibility. I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t think I could spare the time and effort that it’ll take to win,” he told Wicked Local.
4. Busiek Wants to Get Rid of State Sales Tax on Massachusetts-Made Products
On his website, Busiek said he wants to see a bill passed that would exempt the Bay State’s stales tax on products made in Massachusetts. He suggests that this would help Massachusetts industry.
“I’d like to see legislation to make anything manufactured in the Bay State sales tax-exempt,” Busiek told Wicket Local.
Busiek’s other big economic idea is to have a tiered minimum wage system, where employees who don’t live in Massachusetts but work there would be paid $15 an hour. Non-naturalized foreigners working in the commonwealth would get a $30/hour minimum wage.
“I’d also like to reset the minimum wage for native Bay-Staters down to the federal minimum, so that nobody who wants to work, however unskilled, is priced out of the labor market,” Busiek wrote on his site. “The current system really disadvantages native unskilled labor.”
Busiek also wants to get rid of the state income tax and affordable housing programs.
5. He Is Against Gay Marriage & Wants to Stop Gay Parents From Adopting
The Massachusetts State House in 2007. (Getty)
Although Busiek told the State House News Service that he has no “enmity” towards gay people, he is against gay marriage, which has been legal in the state since 2003. On his site, Busiek also wrote, “Particularly distressing is a modern trend in Massachusetts of same-sex couples being allowed to adopt and raise children. We ought to prohibit this.”
Busiek also wrote to Republican Governor Charlie Baker, asking him not to sign theMassachusetts Transgender Rights Bill.
Don't do it, @CharlieBakerMA. These perverts aren't who got you elected, and pandering won't make them your friends.twitter.com/CriticalMA1/st…
Also on his site, Busiek wrote that he wants to end daylight savings time, end the Massachusetts fireworks ban and lower the drinking age to 18. He also wants to “discourage the use of psychotropic drugs on young children,” according to his site.
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Massachusetts Transgender Rights Bill: 5 Fast Facts You Need To Know
The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill today
by an overwhelming margin that
would bar public discrimination of
trans people.
Click here to read moreby an overwhelming margin that
would bar public discrimination of
trans people.
is entertainment and news contributor to Heavy, and former editor at TheCelebrityCafe.com. Graduate of Hofstra University, plus classic movie and Star Wars geek. Follow him on Twitter at @dsl89.July 5, 2016 6:41 pm
http://heavy.com/news/2016/07/ted-busiek-massachusetts-homophobic-bigot-donald-trump-lgbt-state-senator-candidate-slur/
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