For Immediate Release
January 3, 2019
Contact: 603-271-3665
House Republican Leader Calls on Speaker to Discipline Rep. Deb Stevens
CONCORD – House Republican Leader Dick Hinch (R-Merrimack) called on House Speaker Stephen Shurtleff (D-Concord) to apply disciplinary sanctions on Rep. Deb Stevens (D-Nashua) after reviewing comments made by Rep. Stevens on Facebook alleging that supporters of Trump are, “planning to start a Civil War,” and, “planning to use their guns to deliberately harm others,” among other things, if President Trump loses the 2020 election.
The post was brought to the attention of the Speaker by Republican members throughout the week via email, and personal meetings and communication by Republican Leadership. The Speaker has yet to denounce the comments, and issued a non-specific scolding of members’ use of social media in his House Calendar announcement released Thursday.
“Rep. Steven’s comments are offensive, inflammatory and set a dangerous tone. Casting aspersions like this on decent, law abiding citizens is unbecoming of an elected official, and show her bigoted views towards gun owners, Trumps supporters, and Republicans alike,” Hinch said.
“The Speaker needs to publicly disavow these comments and tell us how he plans to discipline Rep. Stevens, as he has done to Republican members, over public comments. We all support freedom of speech, but as elected officials, there is also an expectation of decency and respect towards the citizens you represent. With these comments, Rep. Stevens has demonstrated she is unable to provide objective representation to the people of her district, and can’t be trusted to give a fair shake to citizens coming before her committee who may own guns, support the president, or any other condition she has expressed as being a danger.”
“If I were the Speaker, I would apply the same standard to Rep. Stevens as he did to other members of the House, mostly Republican, who saw consequences for public comments. If he doesn’t take action, it must mean that he agrees with her,” Hinch concluded. “There cannot be accountability for some, and not for others.”
Rep. Stevens’ original post was deleted, but she reposted a similar article with identical language. You can view it at the link HERE.