Freshman Assemblyman Who Said He’d Vote For Slavery Now Says It Was Facetious
Nevada lawmaker Jim Wheeler told a Republican gathering he’d vote for slavery if that’s what his constituents wanted. Now he says he’s was kidding.
The semi-contrite assemblyman issued a statement Tuesday morning:
“The media is having a good time with a clearly facetious statement I made in a town hall meeting earlier this year,” Wheeler said. “They’re attempting to spin an extreme example I used about supporting my constituents to accuse me of being racist. Anybody that knows me knows that’s absurd, and anyone that views the comments in context understands that the whole point of the example is that racism of any kind is something that I find completely unacceptable.
“During the meeting, I was asked how I would vote if I believed one way on an issue, and my constituents believed the opposite. I stated the truth that I believe, which is that in a representative republic I’m hired by the people to represent their views. I used an over-the-top example of something that I absolutely do not agree with, and even mentioned that to get me to vote for such a thing, my constituents would literally have to hold a gun to my head. In reality, that isn’t the case at all. If my constituents wanted to do something as outlandish as bring back an abhorrent system, then I simply couldn’t represent them anymore. They would remove me from office, or I’d have to resign.”
