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‘Never trust an Indian’: Under fire over racist texts, Trump nominee Paul Ingrassia drops bid
After the news surfaced and Paul Ingrassia started getting backlash, many Republican senators said that they would not back his nomination.
Paul Ingrassia, US President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Office of Special Counsel, said on Tuesday that he was withdrawing his bid after reports of racist messages sent by him surfaced earlier this week. He faced massive backlash and pushback from Republicans as well after he said in a text chain, “Never trust an Indian,” and that the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell”.
Politico reported that he had shared a series of racist text messages in a group that included other Republicans. After the news surfaced and Ingrassia started getting backlash, many Republican senators said that they would not back his nomination.
Paul Ingrassia withdraws nomination
He said that he was withdrawing his name from consideration because “unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time”. In a social media post, he also wrote that he would keep serving Trump and his administration.
“I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday’s HSGAC hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time,” he wrote in the post.
He added, “I appreciate the overwhelming support that I have received throughout the process and will continue to serve President Trump and the administration to Make America Great Again!” Notably, the HSGAC is the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Ingrassia’s text messages
According to texts seen by Politico, Ingrassia told the group members that “MLK Jr. was the 1960s George Floyd and his ‘holiday’ should be ended and tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs”.
He also said in the text chain that you can “never trust a Chinaman or Indian” and claimed that he had “a Nazi streak” from time to time.
His lawyer, Edward Paltzik, questioned the authenticity of the text messages and suggested that they could be AI-generated. He added that if the texts are authentic, they were meant as “self-deprecating and satirical humour”.
