Democrat’s racist Facebook jokes have party leaders trying to push him out of primary

Dangerous jokes again

Democratic state lawmakers in Virginia are trying to push a first-time candidate out of a primary contest for a House of Delegates seat after learning he made sexist and racist online comments.

House Democratic leaders took the rare step last week of asking Tom Brock of Virginia Beach to step aside, saying they need to hold their own accountable, especially after months of bashing President Trump for insensitivity toward women and minorities.

Brock has repeatedly apologized for Facebook posts between 2010 and 2016 but refuses to end his campaign. He said his posts are being blown out of proportion. “I absolutely reject the claims of racism that are being thrown around,” Brock wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday.

House Minority Leader David J. Toscano (D-Charlottesville) called Brock to ask him to drop out in March, shortly after Brock emailed party officials to apologize for insensitive posts about women that surfaced. In those posts, he made lewd remarks about 2012 GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and described Jenna Bush Hager as a “slut” in response to an article in which she mentioned she may have kissed her now-husband on the White House roof.

Then, a 2011 Facebook exchange surfaced in which Brock posted racist jokes.

“Q: Why do kids prefer white teachers over black teachers? A: It is easier to bring an apple than a watermelon,” Brock posted in a 2011 Facebook exchange with his son, according to an image provided to the House Democratic Caucus.

When his son set up a joke asking why blind musician Stevie Wonder can’t read, Brock responded “cause he’s BL......ACK!!!!”

“In this era with Donald Trump being the president and everything that’s happened, it’s more important than ever that candidates for higher office set a higher standard,” said Jennifer B. Boysko (D-Fairfax), the finance chair of Democratic House leadership. “We are not willing to be contributing to the normalization of mocking women and minorities, even if it’s in our own party.”

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