A Republican candidate in Virginia paid a service $30 to delete homophobic, sexist, and violent tweets, but his Democratic opponent found them anyway.
John Gray is a Republican running for Prince William County Board of Supervisors in northern Virginia, and he has quite a history on Twitter.
Related: This Prince William County Republican told a teen with 2 moms that she ‘deserves’ a father
His opponent, Democrat Ann Wheeler, said that her campaign was analyzing Gray’s campaign finance records when they found two payments of $15 to Tweet Deleter, a service that says it can delete tweets.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Tweet Deleter did remove the tweets from his own timeline, but they were still on the app and could by found by searching his user name.
One of the tweets called people who don’t like Donald Trump “bong and dildo holders” who “can’t figure out which bathroom to use” and threatened “300 million weapons and an estimated 2 billion rounds of ammo” against Democrats who would try to impeach him.
Another tweet deleted by @johngraycpa is very relevant today- on the topic of impeachment.
John couldn't debate the issue on the merits so he threatened violence in his bizarre rant about bongs, bathrooms and dildos. This is not someone we can allow to become Chairman of PWC. pic.twitter.com/FB9RkYoi6Y
— Ann Wheeler (@AnninPWC) September 24, 2019
Gray called Hillary Clinton “uglier than shit,” adding: “Can you imagine being so desperate as to even WANTING to have sex with HRC, more or less even doing the deed with her? OMG. Shrivels me up!”
. @johngraycpa deleted this tweet and it's not just because of performance issues. He doesn't want Prince William voters to know how he speaks about women and their kids. Thousands of women work for our county government and deserve better than a Chairman who talks like this. pic.twitter.com/03HPdHxZFC
— Ann Wheeler (@AnninPWC) September 24, 2019
In another tweet, he excused the Pulse shooter, who killed 49 people in an Orlando LGBTQ nightclub. “Well, what did you expect? Being Islamic you knew he had the right to beat you,” Gray wrote.
He also wrote that if Christians can be forced to sell cakes to same-sex couples, then Muslim hookah bar owners should be forced to sell alcohol.
Gray tweeted that NFL stands for “Neeling Felons League,” referring to NFL players who have kneeled during the national anthem to protest police violence against African Americans.
“AfroAmericans voted Obama only because he is black,” Gray wrote in one tweet. In another: “Bible verse of the day: Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Deport him and you don’t have to feed him again POTUS 20:16.”
. @johngraycpa has been ducking reporters since this story came out- but that won't work any longer as we have our biggest debate tonight.
I urge everyone to come out and express how you feel about the racist, sexist and bigoted things he has said.https://t.co/pKaeileifh pic.twitter.com/2klmma4uUk
— Ann Wheeler (@AnninPWC) September 25, 2019
This is one of the tweets @johngraycpa didn't want you to see. pic.twitter.com/7jsb48XtxK
— Ann Wheeler (@AnninPWC) September 24, 2019
“I didn’t realize that he was that extreme,” Wheeler, the Democrat in the race, said.
“The bottom line is, he deleted those tweets because he believed they’re too extreme for Twitter. If they’re too extreme for Twitter, they’re too extreme for Prince William County, and he has no business running Prince William County.”
Gray told the Washington Post that his tweets were “completely inappropriate.” He also said that his tweet about guns and ammunition wasn’t a threat, just a metaphor.
“I’ll be sure to call my campaign consultant and ask: ‘Can you refund my $30?’” he said.
The election is scheduled for November 5 of this year.
