On Wednesday evening, Roland Martin was busy schooling Scott Pio, the Loudoun GOP chair who asked back in October 2011, “Do you think the sea level would lower, if we just took all the boats out of the water?” and who also, After Confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson, Loudoun GOP Chair Claims Historically African American Sorority Delta Sigma Theta Is “taking control of our country at all levels of govt”. Completely, bats**t crazy. And yes, this guy really is the *chair* of the Loudoun County Republican Party. Can you even imagine Virginia Democrats putting someone like this in charge of one of their largest local committees? Uh, no.
Anyway, last night, Loudoun County Chair Phyllis Randall – who Pio repeatedly attacked because – as Roland Martin put it – “she’s a Delta and she’s a proud Delta,” and because a bunch of Deltas took a photo of themselves at the White House to celebrate the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court, appeared on Martin’s show to discuss Pio’s remarks. Chair Randall’s key points were as follows:
- “Scott Pio is…in some ways he’s a joke, but in other ways I take him very seriously, because when you put people who are not serious in serious positions, they can become very dangerous. And so, I can laugh at some of the things he says and does, but that doesn’t mean I don’t take him seriously, because he can also be a very dangerous person as chair of the Republican Party of Loudoun County. Loudoun County’s a very powerful county. And Scott Pio, we were all just shocked when the Republicans voted him chair. I mean, that post is one of the least offensive things Scott Pio has said in the past many months…The fact that the state Republican Party allowed that man to be the candidate for state office was shocking. The fact that the Loudoun County Republican Committee has made him chair of their committee is disturbing. And so, although I laugh at some of the things he does, I do take it seriously…if you put someone like that in a serious position, they’re dangerous people. I think we all learned that when we elected the most non-serious person in the world to the highest office in the land. He was a very dangerous person in that office.”
- “It’s not about the fact that there were women at the White House…it’s WHO they were…”
- Why respond to Pio, such “an ignorant man?” Because “if a lie is repeated enough times and it is not answered and if it’s not responded to, people assume that lie must be the truth.”
- “This is not the worst thing that Scott Pio has ever said…He’s the one who asked the question, if we take all the boats out of the water, would the sea levels go down. He’s the one who asked the question, why do we have a women’s history month…The problem is, this is who Scott Pio has always been, when the Republican Party of Loudoun County voted for him to be the chair of their committee. So now they gave an unserious man a serious position.”
- “He is trying to make it a fear factor…connected us to all the name us that are scaring people for no good reason…In doing that, he’s trying to say we are doing something secret and scary…There’s an underlying goal to what he’s trying to do, which is why you can’t leave that goal unanswered.”
- “[Scott Pio] is ignorant, he is not stupid, and he is dangerous…You cannot let this stuff fester in the dark.”
- “I think what they realize is…local government is a bench for what is called higher office…Loudoun has been the epicenter for harassment, for lies, for violence, the lie of CRT...and it started when…Glenn Youngkin was running for governor…and I think they believe if they can get to these local offices…then that gives them a pipeline for the state senate seats, the governor…the US Senate seats…so there is a strategy to what they’re doing…We have to pay attention to what they’re doing and we have to have a rapid response.”
Superb job by Phyllis Randall; let’s make sure we all have her back!
P.S. Click on the image to watch the video. Chair Randall’s segment starts about 1 hour 20 minutes in…
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