Black Lives Matter PAC calls for 'immediate resignation' of Democratic strategist who said she hoped Lindsey Graham would die of COVID
The Black Lives Matter branch in Rhode Island is calling on one of the state's top Democratic Party strategists to resign after her tweet suggesting she hopes Republican Senator Lindsey Graham dies after testing positive for coronavirus.
'In a time where many human lives have been lost to COVID-19 all across Rhode Island, this comment is extremely distasteful and insensitive,' the BLM Rhode Island political action committee wrote in a tweet Tuesday.
'Anything short of an immediate resignation, would signal that these types of comments are acceptable within the RI Democratic Party,' it continued in the three-tweet thread.
Kate Coyne-McCoy, a top Democratic consultant in Rhode Island, received a slew of backlash for her Monday tweet wishing ill of Senator Graham after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 despite being vaccinated.
'It's wrong to hope he dies from COVID right? Asking for a friend. #COVIDIsNotOver #LindseyGraham,' Coyne-McCoy wrote in a now-deleted tweet.
By Tuesday morning she tweeted: 'I made a mistake. I used poor judgement which I obviously regret.'
'Regardless of political affiliation– the disregard for human life is unacceptable and should not be tolerated anywhere within any political party,' the Rhode Island BLM PAC tweeted in response to Coyne-McCoy's original tweet about Graham.
'How can we trust someone with such blatant disregard for human life with the will of RI voters?' they added. 'Anyone affiliated with the Democratic Party should be held to a higher standard, as @katecoynemccoy was hired to 'modernize the party and position Democrats to win from the top to the bottom of the ballots.'
Coyne-McCoy wrote in a now-deleted tweet, 'It's wrong to hope he dies from COVID right? Asking for a friend. #COVIDIsNotOver #LindseyGraham' after the South Carolina Republican senator announced he tested positive for coronavirus despite being vaccinated
The Black Lives Matter Rhode Island political action committee responded in a statement Tuesday claiming the tweet was 'distasteful and insensitive' at a time where many people are losing loved ones to the virus
The group questioned how they could trust Coyne-McCoy with 'the will of Rhode Island voters'
In the Twitter statement, BLM RI PAC called on the executive consultant for the Democratic Party in the state to 'immediately resign'
Rhode Island Democratic Party Chairman Joe McNamara also told radio host Gene Valicenti Tuesday morning that the party is 'reviewing her contract.'
'The state Democratic party does not wish ill will on anyone and her statement does not reflect, in any way, the values of the Democratic Party. It was a stupid thing to do,' McNamara said.
'It's a horrible thing to say,' he continued. 'Especially in light of the fact that we have lost so many loved ones to this pandemic. It's very, very hurtful.'
Coyne-McCoy's second tweet walking back on her original comments received swift condemnation on Twitter, as well.
Graham announced Monday that he tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild flu-like symptoms.
'I was just informed by the House physician I have tested positive for COVID-19 even after being vaccinated,' Graham said in a statement.
He said he started having symptoms Saturday night and went to the doctor Monday morning.
Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday he tested positive for COVID and is experiencing mild flu-like symptoms. The South Carolina Republican is captured without a mask walking around the Capitol Building on Friday
Coyne-McCoy pinned a tweet Tuesday morning, claiming, 'I made a mistake. I used poor judgement which I obviously regret'
'I feel like I have a sinus infection and at present time I have mild symptoms,' he continued. 'I will be quarantining for ten days.'
'I am very glad I was vaccinated because without vaccination I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now. My symptoms would be far worse,' the Republican added.
Over the weekend, according to Politico and CNN, Graham attended a gathering on Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin's house boat 'Almost Heaven' with a 'small group of senators.'
Manchin said Monday evening he has since tested negative for COVID - and said the boat gathering wasn't a party.
'There was no celebration, we're just trying to keep people together and do things in a bipartisan way. That's what we do,' Manchin told The Huffington Post.
Sen. Lindsey Graham announced on Twitter Monday afternoon that he tested positive for COVID-19 and was experiencing flu-like symptoms
Sen. Lindsey Graham said if he hadn't been vaccinated against COVID-19, 'My symptoms would be far worse'
Graham attended a gathering on West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin's house boat 'Almost Heaven' over the weekend
Manchin hosted a bipartisan group of senators, including Graham, at his D.C.-docked house boat over the weekend. Manchin has since tested negative for COVID-19
Later, as Manchin walked outside the Capitol, he was asked how many people attended the event.
The West Virginia senator replied 'maybe, not quite,' when asked if the number of attendees was a dozen.
He confirmed it was all senators on board.
'If they want you to know who they are, they'll tell you,' Manchin said.
'We were outside, OK? And everybody's been vaccinated.'
He also said it lasted for 'whatever it takes to eat a hamburger or two.'
Manchin's office wasn't commenting on the boat party initially, instead saying, 'Senate Manchin is fully vaccinated and following the CDC guidelines for those exposed to a COVID positive individual.'
But then Sen. Mark Kelly's spokesperson confirmed to CNN that the Arizona Democrat had come into contact with Graham at Manchin's fete.
'Sen. Kelly came into contact with Sen. Graham during a bipartisan gathering this weekend hosted by Sen. Manchin,' spokesman Jacob Peters told CNN.
Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Nevada Democrat, was also in attendance, CNN said.
Punchbowl News reported that Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, was there too.
As were Sens. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, and John Thune, a South Dakota Republican. Thune's and Coons' offices said Monday night that the senators tested negative.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that vaccinated individuals who have been in contact with COVID-positive individuals get tested three to five days after exposure.
They're also advised to wear a mask in public for 14 days following a potential exposure - or until a negative test comes back.
Vaccinated individuals who test positive are supposed to quarantine for 10 days.
Huffington Post reporter Igor Bobic reported seeing Graham in the Capitol Building earlier Monday sporting a mask.
Graham was captured by reporters walking around Capitol Hill Friday without a mask.
The Senate didn't put back in place mask-wearing as the vaccination rate among lawmakers in the upper chamber is nearly universal.
The vaccination rate in the House of Representatives is lower.
A group of House Republicans protested the House's resumption of mask-wearing last week, by parading to the Senate side of the Capitol Building.
A number of Senate Democrats began wearing masks again once the guidance changed. Most Senate Republicans, however, remained mask-less.
Graham joins nearly 70 of his Congressional colleagues in testing positive for the coronavirus - but this is the Senate's first breakthrough COVID infection since most of the upper chamber received the vaccine.
Graham announced in December he had received the vaccine - tweeting out a picture of himself getting his first shot.
'Thank God for nurses who help people in need and know how to use a needle. Thank God for those who produced these vaccines. If enough of us take it, we will get back to normal lives,' Graham said at the time.
Graham and other Republican lawmakers who received early doses of the vaccine were criticized for doing so after party members downplayed the dangers of the virus.
Graham mocked mask-wearing as recently as Thursday.
'To my liberal Democratic friends: If you are looking to 'Mask Up,' how about 'Mask Up' the border?' Graham said sharing a Fox News story quoting former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, who claimed migrants coming over the southern border were bringing COVID-19 into the country.
During President Donald Trump's time in office, Graham was one of his top allies on Capitol Hill.
Trump helped politicize mask-wearing and hosted large political rallies for months leading up to the November 3 presidential election, despite vaccines not being available yet.
The former president and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19 in early October and Trump was briefly hospitalized at Walter Reed because he had low oxygen levels.
With Graham sidelined, the bipartisan infrastructure deal could once again be in danger of falling through, as every senator's vote is needed and the votes were expected to take place this week, before August recess.
Graham was one of the 17 Republicans to join Democrats in a key vote last week to get the bipartisan infrastructure deal moving toward passage.
Punchbowl News asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer if Graham's diagnosis will derail the infrastructure vote timeline.
'Really hope not,' Schumer said. 'I don't think it will. And we're trying to let it not.'
Graham shared a photo of himself getting a COVID-19 jab in December 2020
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