The Pennsylvania GOP official who authored Facebook posts describing NFL players who kneel in protest during the national anthem as “baboons” has resigned.
Using the pseudonym “Carla Belich Fueller,” former Republican Committee of Beaver County secretary Carla Maloney lambasted the football players, calling them “overpaid Blacks” who needed to “go to Africa” if they didn’t like it here, Newsweek reported. Maloney’s incendiary posts reportedly came after Pittsburgh Steelers players chose to remain in the locker room during the anthem ahead of their Sept. 24, 2017 game in Chicago.
On her Facebook page, Carla Maloney, writing under pseudonym, griped about “reverse racism” in America and warned of an impending civil war. (Image courtesy of CNN)
On Friday, Maloney admitted to authoring the “distasteful, inappropriate and insensitive” posts and announced she would be stepping down.
“Those that know me know that I come from a diverse family that represents modern America,” she said in a statement posted on the committee’s Facebook page. “I know I’m a better person than this and, as I step away from these public positions … From the bottom of my heart, I again apologize for my remarks, my poor taste, and the problems they have caused.”
Chip Kohser, chairman of the RCBC, confirmed to The Beaver County Times that Maloney made the posts before being elected secretary of the committee earlier this year.
“Tired of these over paid ignorant blacks telling me what I should believe in,” she wrote in one post. “I will tell you what I believe in — and that’s our Flag, the National Anthem and America period, end of story. You don’t like it here, go to Africa see how you like it there. We’re all Americans; not African American not Hispanic American. WE’RE ALL AMERICAN.”
In another, Maloney claimed the Steelers were “just as bad as the rest of the overpaid baboons. You respect your flag, country and our national anthem. How many men and women have lost limbs or died to protect this country and you baboons want respect. If you want respect, you need to earn it and so far you haven’t.”
“Those comments do not reflect the opinions of the Republican Party as a whole,” said Kohser, who admitted to knowing about the posts last year. The chairman said he couldn’t recall whether he’d mentioned the posts to the executive committee at the time she was appointed secretary, the Beaver County Times reported.
Maloney’s now-deleted Facebook page also featured complaints about so-called “reverse racism” plaguing America and warned of a civil war “sooner or later.” She also appeared on CNN’s “Van Jones” show in July when the host visited the Pennsylvania town of Ambridge to talk with Trump supporters.