The number-two man in the Minnesota Republican Party took a well-deserved reaming for using the death of Robin Williams to drum up support for a Republican running for governor.
Just hours after Williams’ death was announced on Monday, Ellen Anderson, the social media director for the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (the Minnesota branch of the Democratic Party) tweeted a tribute to the actor in which she noted she had a cat named Nanu Nanu. When Minnesota Republican Party deputy chairman Chris Fields saw this, he crassly tweeted the following (since deleted):
@ellencanderson how very 80’s. Want an economy like we had in 80’s under Reagan?Vote @Jeff4Gov tomorrow in the primary.
“Jeff4Gov” is Hennepin County (Minneapolis) commissioner Jeff Johnson, who went on to win Tuesday’s Republican primary.
Needless to say, Fields’ comments attracted a firestorm of criticism. But rather than back down, Fields doubled down. Among other things, he claimed that those criticizing him had “pretend grief” and were ignoring that Democratic policies were hurting real people.
Finally, Republican consultant Kevin Watterson jumped in, telling Fields in no uncertain terms to “shut. the f**k. up.” Fields told Watterson needed to “watch ur mouth” and show some concern for real people. But Watterson, a former communications staffer for the Republican caucus in the state house, was having none of it, saying–rightly–that Fields was “making an ass of all of us,” and as an officer of the state party he should know better. Even that wasn’t enough to stop Fields’ disgusting tweets, which continued for most of the night.
Fields kept up the screed for much of Tuesday morning, but by that afternoon had deleted most of them. This came after Johnson unequivocally condemned Fields’ tweets as “inappropriate and wrong.”? However, Buzzfeed’s Andrew Kaczynski and local blog Bluestem Prairie got screenshots of most of them. Just hours later, Fields himself apologized, saying he’d “sent the wrong message” with his tweets.
Fields is no stranger to controversy. Just after ending a 21-year career in the Marine Corps, he made a kamikaze run for Congress against Keith Ellison. He didn’t help his cause by suggesting that Ellison became a Democrat in an act of rebellion against his father, a black Republican. Not surprisingly, he was routed, taking only 25 percent of the vote. Last July, while serving as state party secretary–a post that even then made him one of the highest-ranking black Republicans at any level in the country–he told a group of Republicans near Albert Lea that Trayvon Martin’s upbringing and love of rap led to his death at the hands of George Zimmerman. And in October, he refused to condemn a Facebook post on a county GOP’s Facebook page that compared abortion to slavery.
For a long time, I wondered–how in the world could any part of Minnesota elect someone like Michele Bachmann? Well, it looks like I found my answer. Apparently people like Fields are what pass for leadership in the Minnesota GOP. From where I’m sitting, the only difference between Fields and Bachmann is skin color. And that’s true even though he apologized. After all, the fact Fields even thought this was a good idea says a lot about him–and it isn’t good.
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Darrell Lucus is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
