CloseUp: Speaker will not remove Majority Leader over old internet posts featuring racial slur
Updated: 10:50 AM EDT Sep 4, 2022
WELCOME BACK TO CLOSE UP. WHILE THE WORK OF THE LEGISLATURE IN CONCORD HAS A BIG IMPACT ON THE REAL WORLD, WHAT HAPPENS ONLINE AND IN SOCIAL MEDIA SEEMS TO BE OF INCREASING IMPORTANCE TO ELECTED OFFICIALS. WHILE MOST OF WHAT THEY DO IN THAT SPACE IS INCONSEQUENTIAL TO THE REST OF THE STATE. LAST WEEK, DEMOCRATS SURFACE DECADE OLD ONLINE POSTS BY HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER JASON OSBORNE THAT WERE INCENDIARY. IN ONE INSTANCE, FEATURING REPEATED USE OF THE N-WORD AND IN ANOTHER QUESTIONING WHY THERE IS AN AGE OF CONSENT FOR SEXUAL ACTIVITY. REPRESENTATIVE OSBORNE ADDRESSED THOSE POSTS LAST WEEK BACK AT NEW HAMPSHIRE. HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER JASON OSBORNE IS EXPRESSING REGRET FOR USING A RACIAL SLUR ON AN INTERNET MESSAGE BOARD A DECADE AGO. THE POST WAS ON THE FORUM FREE TALK LIVE IN 2011. IT RESURFACED ONLINE EARLIER THIS WEEK IN A DEBATE OVER HOW TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE WITH OFFENSIVE VIEWPOINTS. OSBORNE USED A HIGHLY OFFENSIVE EPITHET FOR BLACK PEOPLE. THE N-WORD REPEATEDLY WRITING, QUOTE, IF SOMEONE SAYS TO YOU THAT THEY SUPPORT LYNCHING A N-WORD AND IN FACT, THEY REALLY ARE STIMULATED BY THE THOUGHT OF LYNCHING A N-WORD, WOULD YOU ASSOCIATE WITH THAT PERSON? WOULD YOU TELL PEOPLE ABOUT IT? IF YOU SAY THAT HAVING AN IDEA THAT LYNCHING N-WORDS IS GOOD AND NOT THE SAME AS HAVING AN IDEA THAT EXPLETIVE KIDS IS GOOD, THEN THAT IS THE SOURCE OF THE DISCONNECT HERE. IN AN INITIAL STATEMENT TO NEWS 9, OSBORNE SAID, QUOTE, I DO NOT RECALL WRITING THIS NEARLY DECADE OLD POST, WHICH REGRETTABLY CONTAINS LANGUAGE I WOULD NOT USE TODAY. I WAS A DIFFERENT PERSON TEN YEARS AGO WHO WOULD NOT HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE IMPACT OF THAT TYPE OF COMMENT. AND GIVEN THE CONTEXT, THE GOAL OF THE POST WAS TO CONDEMN RACISM AND PEDOPHILIA. THIS IS NOT HOW I COMMUNICATE TODAY, AND I WOULD NEVER CONDONE SUCH A STATEMENT. NOW I AM NOT THE FIRST PERSON TO HAVE WRITTEN SOMETHING IN THE PAST THAT THEY DEEPLY REGRET. AND I WILL NOT BE THE LAST. OSBORNE DID MAKE ADDITIONAL POSTS ON THE SITE QUESTIONING THE NEED FOR A LEGAL AGE OF CONSENT FOR SEX AND USING DEMEANING LANGUAGE ABOUT WOMEN’S BODIES IN REFERENCE TO PUBLIC BREASTFEEDING. THURSDAY AFTERNOON, HOUSE DEMOCRATS CALLED FOR OSBORNE TO BE REMOVED FROM LEADERSHIP USING THE N-WORD, BERATING WOMEN, TALKING ABOUT CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. I MEAN, IT’S DEEPLY, DEEPLY CONCERNING. OSBORNE PROVIDED A SUBSEQUENT STATEMENT TO NEWS 9 SAYING, QUOTE, OUT OF THE NUMEROUS INAPPROPRIATE COMMENTS MADE BY MEMBERS DURING MY TENURE AS MAJORITY LEADER, I HAVE NEVER CALLED FOR ANYONE TO RESIGN OR BE REMOVED FROM THEIR POSITION. I DO NOT EXPECT OTHERS TO HOLD ME TO A STANDARD. I WOULD NOT HOLD THEM. HE GOES ON TO SAY, QUOTE, I HAVE CHANGED SINCE WRITING THOSE POSTS. I CREDIT THE LATE SPEAKER BENCH WITH SEEING THAT IF I CAN EVOLVE FROM BEING A RADICAL TO AN EFFECTIVE MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATURE, THEN I CAN MENTOR OTHER MEMBERS TO BE PRODUCTIVE AND WORK TOWARD BENEFITING NEW HAMPSHIRE AS WELL. NEWS 9 ASKED GOVERNOR CHRIS SUNUNU IF HE BELIEVES OSBORNE SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM HOUSE LEADERSHIP OVER THE OLD POSTS. A SPOKESMAN REPLIED WITH A STATEMENT SAYING, QUOTE, NO MATTER THE CONTEXT, THESE WORDS ARE HORRIBLY INAPPROPRIATE AND WRONG. REPRESENTATIVE OSBORNE’S UNEQUIVOCAL REMORSE AND APOLOGY IS CERTAINLY WARRANTED. REPUBLICAN HOUSE SPEAKER SHERMAN PACKARD IS STANDING BY. OSBORNE AS MAJORITY LEADER, TELLING US HE WILL NOT REMOVE HIM. HE RELEASED A STATEMENT SAYING, QUOTE, AS MEMBERS OF LEADERSHIP, WE MUST HOLD OURSELVES TO A HIGHER STANDARD. I KNOW THE MAJORITY LEADER REGRETS HIS USE OF RECKLESS AND UNACCEPTABLE LANGUAGE IN THE PAST AND HAS TAKEN RESPONSIBLE LIBERTY FOR HIS POOR JUDGMENT. HE IS A TIRELESS PUBLIC SERVANT AND REMOVING HIM FROM HIS OFFICE WOULD BE A DISSERVICE. PUNISHING SOMEONE FOR SOMETHING THEY REGRET DOING MORE THAN TEN YEARS AGO IS JUST NOT WHO I AM. SINCE TAKING ON THE ROLE OF SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, I HAVE REMAINED FIRM THAT ANY FORM OF OFFENSIVE SPEECH HAS NO PLACE IN OUR SOCIETY OR IN PUBLIC SERVICE. I URGE ALL MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE TO ACT WITH DIGNITY AND RESPECT TO OTHERS. NOW, LEADER OSBORNE IS IN MANY WAYS THE GLUE THAT HOLDS THE REPUBLICAN MAJORITY TOGETHER. AND WHILE THE SPEAKER’S DECISION TO KEEP HIM IN POWER RECOGNIZES THAT DEMOCRATS ARE ALREADY PLANNING TO HIGHLIGHT OSBORNE’S PAST CONTROVERSIAL STATEMENTS TO VO
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CloseUp: Speaker will not remove Majority Leader over old internet posts featuring racial slur
Updated: 10:50 AM EDT Sep 4, 2022
The Republican House majority leader expressing regret after a past internet post using a racial slur comes to light.
The Republican House majority leader expressing regret after a past internet post using a racial slur comes to light.
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