An Ohio GOP county chairman has deleted a social media post that appeared to imply that the wildfires ravaging California were "God's punishment" for the "liberal" state.
Columbiana County Republican Party Chairman Dave Johnson told Cleveland.com on Monday that he posted the image to his Facebook page after reading an article about the fires. While he said that he believes Democrats have poorly managed California's forests, he added that he did not mean to insult anyone by sharing the image.
Look, thats a meme," Johnson told the news outlet. "And its how I feel about liberals, but did I mean that God is going to punish everyone who lives in California? No. Its a figure of speech, and I probably shouldnt have done it
"But I did, and it doesnt change how I feel about whats happened in California.
Cleveland.com notes that Johnson is a member of Ohio Republican Partys central committee and served as a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention.
His Facebook post, which features a blazing forest fire and the messages "God's Punishment to Liberal California" and "Hell on Earth, brought to you by Liberals in California," led to swift backlash
Wildfires in both northern and southern California have destroyed more than 10,000 homes and have ravaged the regions. At least 79 people had reportedly died as of Monday.
Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras condemned the post. In a statement on the Mahoning County Democrats' Facebook page, Betras called on Johnson to resign and apologize to those impacted by the fires.
Johnson owes the victims, their families, and the heroes who fought the fire and participated in rescue efforts an apology, Betras wrote. In addition, I think his demented comments disqualify him from holding positions of public trust. He should, therefore, immediately resign from all the public positions he holds."
Opps phone auto corrected to country. Should read county. ---