MS NOW Anchor Host Grills Dem Candidate On Incendiary Social Media Posts: ‘Some Words That I Can’t Say on Television’
MS NOW’s Antonia Hylton pressed Democratic Wisconsin gubernatorial hopeful David Crowley on Friday over his claim that he was not the author of numerous “incendiary” social media posts from an account tied to him.
Crowley, who joined Hylton Friday, claimed up to a dozen people had access to the X account, which he had created in his early 20s.
Crowley recently earned the endorsement of Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D). As Hylton noted, that endorsement came just days before an NBC News report on Crowley’s former social media account dropped.
Hylton could not read most of the messages from the account, which used the handle “Dirt McGirk” and was created in 2010 and active until 2014, because of its vulgar messages, she said.
“Your campaign says that you did not author any of the controversial posts there and says that up to 12 other people had access to the account. Do you stand by that?” Hylton asked Crowley.
“Absolutely,” Crowley replied.
The candidate said he does not “condone” the messages.
“It’s not language that I would use. And anybody who knows me knows I continuously fight on behalf of all of our communities across the entire state. But what I recognized at the end of the day, as we’ve been traveling, is that, you know, Wisconsinites don’t care about tweets that’s old enough to drive. They want to know how we’re going to make sure that they can afford groceries, afford housing, afford their utility bills,” he said.
Hylton pressed further, noting that in one message, Crowley appeared to plainly identify himself.
The message in question reads: “Follow No_pork_plz for those who don’t know it’s DC aka David bka Dirty or black a*s dude hahaha… just STFU and follow #reweet.”
“Did you really not author even a single one of those? I ask because there is one where you basically self-identify yourself using some of the same tone and sort of style of writing. You know, you say at one point, those who don’t know it’s DC aka David. And it goes on to have some words that I can’t say on television in it. So, in some cases, it sort of looked like it might be the same person,” she said.
Crowley did not admit to any specific messages, but said he and his friends were “immature” and using the social media account for promotion.
“Well, I had a group of friends and we were immature. We did stupid stuff when we were younger, in our mid 20s as single guys doing some things like club promotions. And so it was for a lot of attention. But many of the incendiary comments I did not write. You know, if anybody knows me, they know that I’m a stand up guy,” he said.
Hylton also asked if he’d spoken to Evers about the tweets, especially with the primary election just weeks away.
“No, he didn’t know about these posts, just like I didn’t know about these posts,” Crowley said. “These are, these are posts that are 16 years old.”
The old social media account had a description that read, “A different side of me.” Hylton tried reading a few posts, but mostly had to skip over vulgarities.
“That’s just NASTY!!! I wouldn’t f*ck her with YOUR d*ck!!!! #slapyourself,” one 2010 tweet reads.
Another reads, “Only n—-s like you have #gaythoughts LOL fuggin tambourine player LOL.”
Crowley’s campaign said he strongly “condemns” the posts.
“The people who know me will be the first to tell you that I would never say these things,” he said. “Bottom line: I strongly condemn the language used in these posts from a decade and a half ago.”
Watch above via MS NOW.
New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!
Comments
↓ Scroll down for comments ↓